By Jacquiline Wahu
Buying land and building your dream home in some areas is not easy. For instance, in urban set ups like Nairobi, getting genuine land is quite a demanding process.
Mugo Mutembei, the CEO of Bristem Developers emphasizes that keen planning for land use is necessary after deciding to acquire land.
“The next three important things to do after acquiring land should be to plan, plan and plan again,” he says.
Mr Mutembei further explains that bankruptcy, abandoned structures and court cases are outcomes lack of proper planning. This is evidenced the huge number of uncompleted structures in the developing areas.
Those longing to be home owners are advised not let rent-free life desire turn to a debt trap with an augmented risk of losing out the very land to financiers such as banks.
Land prices remains in an upward trajectory, as reported by Hass Consult in a Land price index thus the dire need for planning before investing your hard-earned money in land.
For a bank to lend you money to construct a house, they require a title deed, the drawing for the house, bill of quantity and approved drawings from county government not forgetting a National Construction Authority (NCA) registered contractor.
For a heads up, one requires to have the right team of professionals to consult who include the architect, engineer, quantity surveyor, contractor and a lawyer.
Experts caution that it may be useless to book a date with an architect before thinking about a tentative budget for the house. Buying designs along the road, as it is common, may be the genesis of a failed construction.
An architect in Kenya should charge a minimum fee of six per cent of a project’s construction cost should they execute all services during a construction of a new project.
Another important thing to consider is the location of the land. This has a lot to do with the serene environment that one may have visualised. Again, it has everything to do with the kind of structure that one will eventually end up constructing, even if the budget is not a limiting factor.
In some cases, the associations have a say on the kind of finishing to give your house or the materials to use, so as not to compromise on the estate’s glory.
It is important to note that some parcels of land are classified by county governments as agricultural and this may call for application for change of use license before constructing a house.
This unanticipated cost demands you to advertise your intention in two or three newspapers and wait for at least 14 days to see if there will be no complains thereafter, you can proceed to make the application to county government.
A lawyer engagement is crucial as construction may be lengthy, obviously involving money and many parties. In case a dispute arises with contractors, designers, or even suppliers of materials the legal mind will come in handy to rescue your project from delaying.
Mr Mutembei closes his remarks as follows, “Anything cheap is very expensive at the end of the day. Doing construction is a journey. If your budget cannot match your vision, you go back to the drawing board”.
