Property and Home Living Expo, slated for September 4-7

This year’s Property and Home Living Expo is set to kick off from September 4 - 7, at the Sarit Centre Exhibition.

The expo dubbed ‘Building networks to foster County real estate growth and home development’ comes amid shift in focus on property investment for both investors and consumers, with traction in peri-urban investments.

Major property investors are pushing for incentives to spur county living and investment, and are confident that the government will come up with policies that will unlock the full potential of the real estate sector in the counties, says the exhibition organizer Mr Abdi Juma, during the official announcement of the dates.

Citing the government’s manifesto to devolve the responsibility of housing to counties, the property investors now want the government to come up with a policy that will set forth the release of idle land, in order to ease development of county housing in the wake of the new dispensation, Juma says.

“Approximately 70 percent of land in the country belongs to the government, with religious and non-governmental institutions holding close to 15 percent, and this is posing a land hurdle for investors with an eye in investing in the counties,” says Reginald Okumu, Director, Ark Consultant’s.

“With the expected opening up of the counties, there is clearly going to be a great demand for offices, residential houses for staff taking up jobs in the counties and other Kenyans who view the county as the next investment hub,” said Mr Okumu. Mr Okumu adds that lack of land for development will limit this growth of real estate in the county, if nothing is done.

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Juma reiterates that the greatest challenge property investors experience in county investment is lack of enough land for construction, a factor attributable to the continued high cost of housing. “For a 300,000 national housing units demand to be met with a supply of 50,000 units, we expect land resource to shoot up. By availing land and other incentives to the market, the government will have answered the housing problem,” said Mr Juma.

Citing recent real estate development in Machakos and Homa Bay Counties, property investors are asking county government to follow the lead and help investors to access the available land through partnerships.

“Just as the government came up with means for those in the manufacturing sector with industries outside Nairobi to import equipment from outside tax free, there is a need for county governments to also come up with incentives, which will encourage developers to move to other major towns in the country other than Nairobi,” said Mr Okumu.

The exhibition is also expected to attract county governments and county property investors showcasing investment opportunities.  The exhibition will showcase the finest property investment choices in commercial, residential and holiday homes from Kisumu, Eldoret, Mombasa, Nakuru, Kajiado, Kiambu, Voi and Malindi counties.

The English Point Marina at Fort Jesus and Acacia Holiday Homes in the Tsavo, are two of the main unique properties in East Africa, which will be showcased to the public at the exhibition, says Mr Juma. 

“This will be the perfect venue to showcase such developments as the high net niche audiences will be visiting the expo,” says Ben Woodhams, Managing Director, Knight Frank. Other county based properties that will grace the exhibition are Migaa’s Mitini Scapes located in Kiambu, Llango in Malindi, Kikwetu development by Home Afrika based in Athi River, Longonot City, the Sh.5 billion Mount Kenya Homes Holiday Homes, Nanyuki Mall  in Nanyuki, Kisumu’s Sh1.6 billion Translakes Estate among others. The exhibition will also be graced by a number of county governments.

This exhibition comes at a time when the Ministry of Planning and Devolution has reported a 4.8 percent increase in developments in 2012 up from 4.3 percent in 2011, with a total value of new private and public buildings completed going up by 9.6 per cent from Sh.46.4 billion in 2011 to Sh 50.8 billion in 2012, says Mr Jaffer.

The free to attend exhibition is a timely move that will showcase the vibrant real estate opportunities in the 47 counties by leading developers, and aims at tapping into the emergent spending power of the middle economic class keen on avoiding steep prices of similar property in the capital, Juma says.