Residential Projects

Work Begins on Sh20bn Mavoko Housing Project

The 55-acre project is expected to be completed in about four years.

Updated on

December 9, 2022

An impression of the Mavoko Affordable Housing Project. PHOTO | COURTESY

Work is finally underway on a multi-billion-shilling project that seeks to deliver more than 5,300 affordable housing units in Mavoko, Machakos County.

The project, which is under the Mavoko Affordable Housing Programme, will be undertaken by Epco Builders – a Kenyan construction company – in a departure from the norm where such projects are given to Chinese contractors.

The Mavoko Housing Project is a partnership between Kenya and the UN Habitat aimed at providing affordable homes to low and middle-income earners.

The project is expected to deliver 960 one-bedroom units, 2,400 two-bedroom units, 1,440 three-bedroom units, and 560 studio units at a cost of Sh20 billion.

The development will also include a community centre, kindergarten, primary school, commercial centre, fire station and a police station.

The affordable housing development, which sits on a 55-acre parcel of land in Mavoko Constituency, will be completed in about four years.

Speaking during the ground-breaking on Wednesday, President William Ruto said the launch of the project confirmed the government’s strategic focus on escalating access to quality and secure dwelling places at affordable cost in the country.

“We have embarked on this programme because there are more than 6.5 million Kenyans who stay in informal settlements,” Dr Ruto said.

Epco Builders managing director Ramji Varsani had earlier exuded excitement on taking up the housing project, which is one of the biggest in Machakos County.

“It has been a long journey doing consultation on pricing, specification of the units, but finally the D-day is almost here,” Mr Varsani said.

Epco Builders, one of the largest construction companies in Kenya, has delivered about 10,000 housing units in various projects across the country.

The Mavoko Affordable Housing Project comes at a time when the Kenyan government has committed to facilitate construction of 250,000 affordable urban housing units annually to accommodate the fast-rising urban population.