The Ministry of Lands has issued a vacation notice to residents of six government estates in Nairobi Eastlands area.

This is to allow the government’s re-development of the houses under the Affordable Housing Program to commence.

The notice issued by Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga, points Jogoo Road Phase I & II, Jamaa, Mbotela, Ahero, and Mawenzi Gardens as the areas targeted for redevelopment as part of the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda.

“As you are aware, the Government is implementing the Affordable Housing Program (AHP), which is part of the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA). Pursuant to this, several old estates have been identified for redevelopment in order to increase rental stock, avail houses for sale to citizens at affordable rates, and create job opportunities for the youth,” the notice read in part.

Residents have been instructed to vacate their homes by 30th April 2024, after clearing any outstanding rent arrears, utility bills, and service charges.

The residents are supposed to surrender the houses to the director of Estate Management in vacant possession.

“To pave way for their redevelopment, there is need to vacate all tenants residing in these Government estates immediately,” reads the notice in another part.

However the tenants who vacate from the six estates will be accorded priority to purchase or rent a house once the redevelopment is complete.

“Please note that tenants vacated from these estates will be accorded priority to purchase or rent a house once redevelopment is completed,” he added.

The Affordable Housing Program has been billed as a programme that will solve the country’s housing crisis as it will also provide jobs to about a million people in the country.

As the part of the housing budget, the government has set aside Sh3.2 billion to be channeled towards the housing programme targeting an overall of 200,000 affordable housing units annually.

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