UJENZIBORA

Design and Build Contractor.

Tagged: Affordable Housing

Architecture / BUILDING SOLUTIONS / Business / Cost Information / Estimating

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What is Affordable Housing?

There is a maxim of law which states,

“The word is not the thing it represents but gets its meaning from its use“

Early this week, I made a request to a company selling “Affordable housing” and I did receive a quotation of Kshs. 66,000.00 per Square Metre! In other words, a simple 3 Bedroom House of 120 Square Metre in floor area would have cost me approximately Kshs. 7,920,000.00 according to my back-of-the-hand calculation using their rates. And believe you me, the Key Player calls that affordable!

In the same period, I was pricing a Bills of Quantities for a four storey house in Kisumu County and the cost came to about Kshs. 44,000,000.

Why this talking point?

There is vagueness that exists in perception of what is “Affordable Housing”. The vagueness creates room for manipulation and uncertainty both at the policy level and amongst the providers of housing solutions.

In this regard, we wish to clarify and propose a more straight way of looking at things.

Affordable Housing is an Expansive Word not Descriptive!

The word “affordable” is so expansive as to include Ministers affording Palaces, Celebrities affording luxurious real estate, Paupers and Peasants affording homes and the like. The Government built the Official Residence of the Vice-President at a cost of Kshs. 400,000,000.00 because it was an Affordable Presidential Housing. Of course, the tax payer could afford it! You see the absurdity of the word Affordable?

The danger is in including every other Tom, Dick and Harry as to permit expansion of the word affordable. The word is as expansive as words like Mammals, Dinner, Furniture and Persons (Which Lawyers say includes natural persons and legal persons). Dinner includes all categories of food that could be served and Affordable includes every human that can be housed each at his/her own cost.

It is a word that requires qualification. One must state whether the house is affordable to the Poor or affordable to the Middle Class or Affordable to those who can afford anything.

Ordinary Sense of the Word

In the ordinary sense, it means less expensive and reasonably priced. It comes from the word “afford” and “ability” which means “manage to buy or maintain; have enough money (to do something)”. We can therefore state that the word “Affordable Housing” includes all classes of people and the choice is left to the beholder on whether the price is fair or on whether they have capacity to buy and maintain.

 

Since society is divided into two distinct classes that are shifting and intermeddling, that is the poor and the rich. A descriptive word for a House Type benchmarked on Income or Financial Capacity cannot be left to be Expansive! We should say we have 3 or 4 types of broad categories of house types:

  1. Affordable Public Housing like the VP’s Home, Prisons and Kibera Slum Upgrading Units which our taxes can “Afford”
  2. Low-Cost Housing
  3. Middle-Income Housing and
  4. Luxury Housing

The houses our fathers and mothers lived in as Maasai Domes, Rammed Earth and Makuti thatched houses were Affordable Houses! Half the population does not know what the Building Industry means when we say we provide “Affordable Housing”. We live in a world where strings of Propaganda and Advertising create endless illusions.

I think the time for blanketing every other structure as an “affordable” housing is up. Where are the real Architect-Citizens  who can offer real solutions?

However, I must admit this is a thorny issue. We have among us the rich who pose as the poor (Kings on barefoot) and the Poor who pose as the Rich (Footmen on Chariots). Between the two classes, an endless debate and struggle!

Whatever the case, something needs to be done to address the issue of current high market prices and few choices for home buyers.

What are your thoughts?

–          Qs. Nahinga

 

5 Facts about urbanization in Africa

Cities / Government Intervention / Infographic / Opportunities / Planning / Public Policy / Public Private Partnerships / Real Estate Realist / Strategy / Sustainable Design Kenya / Urbanization

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5 Facts about Urbanization in Africa and arising Threats and Opportunities.

Rapid Urbanization:

More than half of Africa’s population will live in its cities by 2040. This translates into a population growth of more than 40,000 new urban inhabitants per day between now and 2040.

With an exception of Seychelles, 71% of urban population in sub-saharan Africa live in slums. In his 2014 World Habitat Day Speech, Seychelles Land Use and Housing minister Christian Lionnet said,

““In Seychelles, since the early years after independence, the government has adopted a pragmatic and consistent approach to housing development based on strong socialist principles. Special vigour has been put on long term programmes for appropriate solution in tackling our housing shortages.  The government has remained focus on its aim to reach a position where the laws of supply and demand come into play fairly.  Today, over thirty years down the line, Seychelles’ ultimate aim for housing is not only to facilitate access, but for every Seychellois to own his or her house.Figures from the last Population and Housing Census (2010) reveal that in 2010, 71% of families in Seychelles own the houses they are living in. This make Seychelles ranked among the top countries in the world on par with the developed nations.”

 

71% of the population in Seychelles own their homes. Over 450 million new urban dwellers are expected between 2010 and 2040, with half of Africa’s population living in urban areas by 2040. This presents various Threats and Opportunities depending on the level of preparedness of Cities.

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In Nairobi, between 1971 and 1995, the percentage of the urban population living in slums almost doubled to 60%

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Cities are Engines of Economic Growth and in that sense, must prepare to take centre stage of Rapid Urbanization. There are three main enablers to enable Cities generate economies of scale advantages. Urbanization alone is not sufficient to regenerate the Cities of Tomorrow. They also require:

 

1. Public investment in infrastructure. There is need to reform policy and legal framework for better integration of city planning and management.
2. Enterprise investment in productive capital. Enable businesses to create quality jobs for people moving into urban areas. This will enhance the ‘Working Environment.”
3. Household/private investment in housing. Strengthen institutions and systems that make cities competitive and sustainable. This will enhance the ‘Living Environment.”

 

If people have opportunities for income, work productivity, opportunity for recreation and socialization with quality housing and access to both the Work Environment and Living Environment, Urbanization is a welcome.

 

This is an opportunity for entrepreneurs and the Government. Apart from attracting productive capital, cities attract and galvanize entrepreneurs. Studies show that 80% of global economic activity is generated in cities; activities that benefit from density and proximity—of goods, people and ideas.

 

 Infrastructure Investment Lesson from China:

According to the World Bank, In 1980, the urbanization rate in East Asia was similar to that of South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Between 1980 and 2010, the rate of urbanization doubled in East Asia to 50 percent, and the urban poverty rate decreased from 24.4 percent to 4.3 percent.5 By contrast, in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the urbanization rate increased from 23 percent in 1970 to 37 percent in 2011, urban poverty decreased only marginally from 41.5 percent to 33.6 percent.

 

If Rapid urbanization is well managed, it can curb urban sprawl, deteriorating access to services, greater inequality, and increased crime.

 

Boost Capital Investment:

China boosted its capital investment (including infrastructure, housing, and office buildings) from 35 percent of GDP in 1980 to 48 percent in 2011, while seeing a dramatic increase in urban population from 18 percent in 1978 to 52 percent in 2012. In contrast, capital investment in Africa has remained around 20 percent of GDP for over 40 years. China’s transformation was led by its cities, aggressively boosting investment and job creation by attracting low-skilled manufacturing industries that benefited from economies of scale and access to markets.

 

Informal or unplanned and under-serviced settlements are a common feature of many cities.In many cities, increasingly high levels of congestion, pollution, illness, disease, crime and insecurity add a huge burden to the economy through lost time and opportunity.

 

Inadequate Infrastructure is a Threat:

  1. Inadequate sanitation infrastructure in Africa’s urban areas is costing the economy around US$5.5 billion every year amounting to between 1% and 2.5% of GDP.
  2. 70 percent of Africa’s urban population lives in informal settlements and 60 percent of total urban employment is in the informal economy
  3. Countries with more than 60% of their population living in urban areas are expected to achieve 50% more MDGs on average than those with urbanization rates of 40 percent or less.
  4.  In the next 20 years, cities in the developing world will triple their built-up area (from 200,000 to 600,000 square kilometers) and double their population (from 2 to 4 billion). What will happen in Africa if we continue to under-invest in Infrastructure?

Sources: Jamal Saghir, World Bank. World Bank:“China Urbanization Study, 2013”. Economic Impacts of Poor Sanitation in Africa, Water and Sanitation Project, 2012

 

Africa / Architecture / BUILDING SOLUTIONS / Construction Management / Inspiration / Lifestyle / Mortgages

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Housing as a Verb: The Sense In Building Slowly.

By definition, a verb is an action word. It brings the sense of unfolding series of steps. I would like to borrow this language and relate it to housing.
All the conversation around home ownership has primarily been around buying a fixed product. A House (A Noun). With no action expected on the part of the home owner apart from signing that mortgage agreement or cheque. This top-down authoritarian approach to housing ignores a major player in the equation, the user.
Intellectual Basis: The Freedom to Build
Most buildings cannot be occupied until they are finished. In real life, occupation certificate cannot be issued until the whole building has achieved Practical Completion. However, the question then to ask is, “What is “Completion?”, Can Practical Completion be Achieved In Stages?”

518gfvtmuml-_sx334_bo1204203200_“If housing is treated as a verbal entity, rather than a manufactured and packaged product (noun), decision-making power must, of necessity, remain in the hands of the users themselves.
The ideal we should strive for is a model which conceives housing as an activity in which the users-as a matter of economic, social, and psychological Common Sense-are the principal actors.  This is not to say that every family should build its own house, as the urban squatters do, but rather that households should be free to choose their own housing, to build or direct its construction if they wish, and to use or manage it in their own ways.” – Freedom to Build, John F C Turner & Robert Fitchter (1972)

 

Self-build and The Law
What does the law say about self-build? Is Owner-Building prohibited by the Law? Surprisingly, the answer is partly Yes and No. The National Construction Authority Act 2011 provides in Section 16:

“a person shall not be deemed to be a contractor if the work undertaken— (i) does not incur a cost exceeding such sum or sums as the Board may from time to time determine; or (ii) consists of a residential house for private use, not requiring a structural design.” – See more here.

 

• How many people can afford a Building Contractor?
• How many people can afford to buy a ready built house (ready to occupy)?
• Most importantly, how many people can afford a housing mortgage today?  According to a 2015 survey by Kenya Bankers Association, those who could afford a mortgage in Kenya are only 2.4% of the population.
For a majority of the population, Assisted Self-Build(ASB) (Also called Do-It-Yourself) is the only viable option out if the dream of Home Ownership is to become a reality. In this regard, Building Slowly is the Common Sense Solution!

The Reality
Admit it! Most people don’t have to have all the money to build their own “dream” house. And this is perfectly OK if you understand where to put the brakes and how to proceed to completion.
Nobody ever has enough of everything on short notice. That is why humanity has embraced the concept of growth. Countries aspire to be developed or middle-income after certain number of years. They tell us, “Rome was not built in a day,” but seldom do we hear stories of victory by ordinary people building their life one step at a time. We are inundated with messages of “Utahama Lini” as if housing is an emergency. It is not unless it is!
Real Life Example: Application of Build Slowly
In February 2010, a magnitude 8.8 earthquake hit Chile, killing approximately 500 people and destroying 80% of the buildings in the town of Constitución.

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An award winning firm of Architects called Elemental reconstructed the homes named, “Villa Verde”, housing complex with more than 480 sustainable homes for the victims of the earthquake.

According to 99% Invisible, As part of the relief effort, an architecture firm called Elemental was hired to create a master plan for the city, which included new housing for people displaced in the disaster. Elemental built for the people Half-a-House with one half of the house ready to be moved in and the other half, just a frame with an empty space ready to be built up when the owner grows wealthy.

Incremental Building: Villa Verde by Elemental, Chile

Incremental Building: Villa Verde by Elemental, Chile

This is exactly the idea of a House as a Verb!

As you prosper, then you can have Add-Ons to the initial fabric or structure of the house. In this case, the house is never seen as a complete project but an unfolding expression of the ways, means and creativity of the owner.

If we can start looking at housing from this perspective, all the pressure that one must build NOW and Occupy the Entire House immediately, evaporates.
The technical term for this is called Site and Services Schemes or Incremental Building.
Advantages of Incremental Building:

  • Improvement and Modernisation of the units can be done at a later stage.
  • The fabric of the house can evolve to reflect the achievements of the owner.
  • As the expert, the Design-Build contractor can transform into providing affordable housing solutions or a series of Packaged Deals which any would-be home owner can pick and assemble incrementally with Add Ons as their fortunes improve. This is housing as it should be.

Are we looking at a New Opportunity of User-Controlled Housing?
Does it have potential to become the new vehicle of personal, family and social growth?

If we think of Housing as a Verb, we allow the People to Shape their Destiny. This way, we can build a better future together. …..to be Continued.

Architecture / BUILDING SOLUTIONS / Cost Information / Quantity Surveying

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The African Courtyard House by Architect Glenn Wilson

In keeping with our value proposition of providing affordable housing solutions, we are pleased to introduce The African Courtyard House designed and conceptualized by a team of designers led by Glenn Wilson Boerstler and Ujenzibora Investment Ltd.

In the year 2013, we set out on a journey to create a series of affordable housing solutions to be implemented in our “Design & Build Package”. We launched the Firstep House: Affordable Housing for Every Beginner  as a first in the series and The African Courtyard House becomes the third deposit after The Minima House.

Even though at first we received minimum participation, The Ujenzibora Housing Challenge continues to receive excellent submissions.

Project Inspiration:

The first and most important concept explored in this design is the concept of shelter (shown through elements of African Architecture).  I have chosen to design with this tradition in mind. The clean lines provide a modern aesthetic while the color and materials complete the link to the vernacular architecture tradition.

Proposed African Courtyard House (A ReThink of Vernacular Architecture fit for Rural Areas)

Proposed African Courtyard House (A ReThink of Vernacular Architecture fit for Rural Areas)

Courtyard Concept:

The house is based on a courtyard concept. There are two courtyards that represent the family’s social life as well as more private family functions and traditions. From the street entry one arrives through a wide plank wood gate by either by foot or car. The walls that surround the entire home are 3040mm in height. The entry courtyard provides sheltered car parking, a formal public courtyard, enclosed storage at the base of the tower and access to the guest bedroom and bath above.

African Courtyard House : Ground Floor Plan

African Courtyard House : Ground Floor Plan

Directly on axis to the wood entry gate is the main entry portico to the house itself. One enters the Great Room of the home which is a tall volume containing the Living Room, Dining room and Kitchen. The home is a bifurcated plan that encloses and inner private courtyard. This courtyard represents an outdoor Living Room accessed on three sides.

The other two arms of the house include the bedrooms. To one side of the courtyard is the Master Bedroom Suite. The Suite includes a master bath with views into a private courtyard. The other arm includes two smaller bedrooms with a shared full bathroom.

In our “Design-And-Build” Package, we have removed the complexity costs and process which have proved to be very tedious and confusing to home owners. For people who already have Land and Clean Title/Ownership Documents, to Construct The African Courtyard House the payment terms are as follows:
1. Committment Fees – 8% of Building Cost – Contract Signing & Design Modifications
2. First Installment, Second and Third Installment – 60% of Building Cost – Construction up to roof level
3. Last Installemnt – 32% of Building Cost – Complete Construction
The installments can be varied in agreement with the client.

Upon project completion, the owner gets a Hand Over Report and As-Built-Drawings which can be used later for property valuation, history or referencing.

Message from Architect Glenn
“Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this. I enjoyed the cultural aspects and African vernacular architecture I researched. A few of the results of this research are posted as inspirations for you to share in the development of the concepts presented herein.

Again, thank you for posting this exciting competition for my colleagues and I to design. I sincerely hope that you find the results you have expected and hoped for. The process of working on this home for you was very gratifying and informative. A note on my graphic approach. I became an architect because of my interest in the arts, in particular drawing. Drawing is an important component of my design process. I hope the graphics adequately illustrate  these ideas.”

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