By Kiptanui Rutto.
New Heri Homes Housing Co-operative Society Limited has kicked off construction of Kikuyu Heights Homes in Dagoretti South. The building site is a few metres from Equity Bank along Kikuyu Road.
Speaking during the ground breaking ceremony, Dagoretti South MP, Hon. Dennis Waweru who was the chief guest, lauded Heri Homes for choosing Dagoretti constituency, saying that Co-operatives play a crucial role in the country’s investment arena. The function was also attended by the Society’s engineers and other stakeholders.
Mr Waweru said there is a huge demand for houses and that all should emulate what the youthful Heri Homes Directors have done
Speaking to Sacco Review at the side lines of the ceremony, Mr Ephantus Kimotho, Heri Homes CEO said the Co-operative focuses on developing apartments and town houses in areas where there is a high rental yield.
Mr. Kimotho said that the Co-operative uses a low risk finance strategy or ‘equity model’, where part of the capital is raised through social capital as equity as opposed to debt.
He said the Housing Co-operative has grown by expanding its network in Kenya as well as having a presence on the international market. Its home solutions that are both practical and sustainable continue to attract customers.
“Our business model has evolved over time to developing apartments and town houses in areas where there is high rental yield. We use a low risk finance strategy to put down all our projects,” said Mr Kimotho.
Kimotho said the strategy reduces the cumulative cost of a specific housing unit by eliminating the hefty interest cost that is ordinarily transferred to the end buyer by the developer where a debt model is employed.
“With this model, Heri Homes has achieved a lot of success,” said Mr Kimotho.
Mr. Paul Mugo, the Housing Co-operative’s Marketing Manager said that quality and affordable housing units the society’s top priority. He said the co-operative society has chosen to locate its houses in attractive areas so as to generate high rental incomes.
Mr. Mugo disclosed that apart from the Kikuyu road project, the Housing Co-operative Society is also developing other housing units in Kitisuru and Athi River (Daystar Hostels), using the equity model. The rest of the capital is raised through pre-sales of housing units.
In addition to real estate, Mugo said the society has also invested in purchase of land in strategic areas with a plan to resale them. The Society is currently creating awareness of its projects both in Kenya and overseas.
