Kenya’s President William Ruto presided over a groundbreaking ceremony on 23 April for an affordable housing project at the Naivasha Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Nakuru county, western Kenya.

“About 1,000 housing units will be constructed across 30 acres of land at the 1,000-acre SEZ, which is situated along the Nairobi-Naivasha standard gauge railway (SGR) line.”

— State House Kenya (@StateHouseKenya) April 24, 2024

Phase 1 of the social housing scheme will see the development of 520 two-bedroom/three-bedroom units across 13 blocks along with commercial areas and social amenities such as a primary school, health centre, police post, community centre and a playing field.

Another 500 affordable housing and market-rate units, including two-bed and three-bed homes, will be constructed in phase 2a while phase 2b will comprise social housing units and cottage industries.

The Naivasha SEZ includes an internal container depot, logistics zone, railway marshalling area and industrial parks.

Kenya faces a housing deficit of about 2 million homes, a number that is growing by 200,000 units a year, while supply is only 50,000 a year.

According to a late April update from the State Department for Housing & Urban Development, the government plans to increase the supply of new housing to 250,000 units a year and the percentage of social housing supply from 2% to 50%. More than 746,795 units are in the pipeline, while over 40,000 units are ready to be built and more than 50,000 are under construction.

Naivasha SEZ masterplanSource: Kenya Special Economic Zones Authority