Home buyers face loss as Athi River houses declared unsafe

National Buildings Inspectorate secretary Moses Nyakiongora speaks to the press on the sidelines of the Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK) Annual Convention in November last year. PHOTO | FILE 

By BONFACE OTIENO

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Summary

• NBI declared the 240 houses in Athi River’s Everest Park Apartments phase I, valued at Sh912 million, structurally unfit for occupation after it was called in to assess their fitness.
• The window frames on the canopy are quashed and several window panes broken.
• The homes are priced at between Sh2.5 million and Sh6.5 million.

More than 200 home buyers in a Nairobi middle class estate are facing huge losses after a State agency declared their houses as unfit for human habitation, citing shoddy construction work.

The National Buildings Inspectorate (NBI) declared the 240 houses in Athi River’s Everest Park Apartments phase I, valued at Sh912 million, structurally unfit for occupation after it was called in to assess their fitness.

The NBI moved in after homes in the estate, which was launched in 2012 in a joint venture between Everest Park Limited, the developer, and Shelter Afrique as the equity financier, developed cracks on the walls.

READ: Shelter Afrique faces losses as Sh730m estate develops cracks - VIDEO

The window frames on the canopy are also quashed and several window panes broken. The NBI was to carry out a structural audit to establish whether the one- to three-bedroom apartments are safe for occupation.

Shoddy construction

It concluded that the construction work was shoddy and the buildings unfit for occupation.

“Since tests already carried out on block 2B show low soil-bearing capacity leading to settlement of the building, similar tests should be extended to all buildings to ascertain their structural integrity. Tenants should be relocated to allow for comprehensive scientific tests to be carried out on all buildings,” the agency said a preliminary audit report on the estate.

The expansive estate has 120 housing units priced at Sh2.6 million each, 60 two-bedroom units costing Sh4.5 million each and 60 three-bedroom units selling at Sh5.5 million each.

An official of Everest Park Management Limited, the residents association in charge of common services in the estate, said the home buyers will demand compensation for the period they will be evicted for repairs.  

Moses Nyakiongora, the NBI secretary, says in the report that storm water drainage needs to be improved to check water soakage into foundations.

He also wants plumbing and above-ground drainage tested to ascertain whether leakages could be the cause of dampness on walls around the ablution area.

The developer, he says, should provide safety guard at staircase landing to ensure people don’t get into contact with glass cladding.

“A total of 10 blocks out of 16 were fully inspected. The remaining six blocks were only inspected from outside since they could not be accessed for full inspection until proper arrangements are made with owners. Nevertheless, they seem to bear the same status of repair as those fully inspected,’ he said.

'Report not factual'

Everest managing director James Muriuki, however, dismissed the report as not factual, saying it “was done with a motive to extort money, undermine the lifelong investment of over 240 innocent Kenyans.”

In a response sent to the NBI, Mr Muriuki says only two blocks out of 11 had sub-structural defects and questions why the NBI made general recommendations based on bearing capacity of soil as tested in block 2B.

“This contradicts your own observation and is totally inconsistent with basic scientific principles of specifics as opposed to generalities. For a block that has a hair crack below the window, do you evacuate the residents?” asks Mr Muriuki in the response.

He therefore wants the report expunged and a fresh site investigation carried out by a vetted consultant who can grant all stakeholders an observatory role in the exercise.

This was the first phase of the of the Athi River-based mixed development.

The second phase by the housing lender began in January 2016 and ended in December featuring one to three-bedroom units.

This saw an additional 200 housing units and a commercial centre put up at a cost of Sh755 million.

The development, which is yet to receive a certificate of occupation, has 40 three-bedroom, 60 one-bedroom and 100 two-bedroom units.

They are priced at between Sh2.5 million and Sh6.5 million.

READ: Shelter Afrique starts building 200 Everest Park phase II houses