The National Housing Corporation (NHC) is reportedly stuck with hundreds of unsold houses. The houses are estimated to be worth over Sh. 1.2 billion and are located in various parts of the country.
According to a report that appeared in the Business Daily newspaper on Monday, some of these houses were completed a number of years ago, but have so far failed to attract any buyers.
The houses are quoted as part of the inventory under the NHC and according to a report by the Auditor General Nancy Gathungu, they amount to a total of Sh. 1,275,730,014. These houses are sold at between Sh. 1.58 million and Sh. 8.75 million depending on their locations and sizes.
The report by the Auditor General further reveals attempts by the NHC to sell the houses. These attempts have included the NHC pitching the houses to prospective individual buyers and institutions.
“Management explained that it has scaled up engagement with County Governments, Saccos, Kenyans in the diaspora, and other relevant institutions to market the unsold houses,” said the Auditor General.
With the high number of unsold houses, the NHC has been forced to rent out many if its houses. The houses being rented out currently are estimated to be worth Sh. 843 million.
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The NHC also has an inventory of houses worth an estimated Sh. 433 million that are currently sitting idle.
The Auditor General now foresees the corporation being unable to return value for the money invested in the houses.
“In the circumstances, the Corporation may not have obtained value for money for the schemes implemented at Sh. 1,275,730,014 included under inventories,” the Auditor General stated in the report.
Some of the units listed as for sale by the corporation include 370 units that are located in Stoni Athi River, Homa Bay, and Kisumu Kanyakwar’s Phase Three. 160 of these houses are in Stoni, 100 are in Kanyakwar and 110 are in Homa Bay.
The inability of the NHC to sell the houses has now cast doubt on the government’s ability to offload President William Ruto’s controversial affordable housing project in the market.
