State woos landowners with home deals
The government has invited private landowners to swap their parcels with the State in a bid to get prime locations for the construction of affordable housing projects.
While also inviting applications from strategic partners, the State Department for Housing and Urban Development noted that projects under the Affordable Housing Programme (AHP) pipeline, as well as others, on public or private land, were welcome.
“This call for applications for strategic partners applies to the AHP project pipeline as well as other affordable housing projects which meet the criteria set forth in the Development Framework Guidelines (DFGs) whether on private or public land.”
Read: Opportunities that are on offer under affordable housing
“Private landowners willing to strategically partner for affordable housing projects in line with the DFGs are also invited to apply,” the department said in the call for applications.
The state department has categorized potential developers willing to participate in the programme under different levels, depending on their capabilities to undertake projects.
The top category will be developers with the capability to undertake projects with more than 100,000 housing units, followed by category B where the developer can undertake projects with between 10,000 and 100,000 housing units.
Developers who can undertake projects of between 1,000 to 9,000 houses have been classified under category C.
The lowest category is for developers whose capability is to undertake projects below 1,000 housing units.
“The state department now invites applications from interested and eligible strategic partners: developers and/or consortiums both local and international, with expertise in the development of affordable mass housing to undertake projects under the AHP within the cycle 2022-2025 through specially permitted procurement procedure,” said the statement.
Under the DFGs issued in 2018, the department provided an option for land swapping between the government and private landowners, where the private land would be located in a desired location for AHP.
“Under the Affordable Housing Programme, land swaps shall take the form of one-time, negotiated transactions that will allow for the government or county government to swap an owned site with a private land owner for land they own in a desired location for AHP. The site from the landowner will be assessed at fair market value and GoK or county government will provide a portion of land of equal fair market value in the alternative location.”
Read: Affordable housing: A real shot at home ownership or hot air?
The guidelines further noted that other than projects on the AHP pipeline which would be developed in public land, “private parties who approach a Contracting Authority with unsolicited proposals for development of affordable human settlements and housing units on private land or on public land not forming part of the AHP Pipeline will be considered, provided they are aligned to the objectives of the AHP.”
Prior to the enactment of the Finance Act 2023 which introduced the Housing Levy, the law that has given effect to massive rollout of the programme, the state department had only indicated that the AHP projects would be put up on public lands donated by the national government or county governments. BY BUSINESS DAILY
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