Laikipia’s Real Estate Sector is growing in Bounds – Report
Cytonn Investments has this week focused on Nanyuki town in Laikipia County and published their findings on the Nanyuki real estate market as shared.
Nanyuki real estate market recorded an average rental yield of 4.7 percent for the residential sector, 7.6 percent in the commercial sector and a capital appreciation of 4.7 percent in the land sector, compared to the Nyeri market average of 5.1 percent, 6.3 percent, and 19.1 percent, respectively.
Overview of Laikipia County, zeroing into Nanyuki Town
Laikipia County is at the border of Samburu County at the North, Isiolo County stands at the North East, Meru County at the East, Nyeri County at the South East, Nyandarua County and Nakuru County at the South West and Baringo County at the West.
The county has a total population of 479,072 and a population growth rate of 2.5percent as at 2017 according to the Laikipia County Statistical Abstract.
According to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the Laikipia county Gross County Product per Capita (2017), stands at 1,533 Dollars, thus ranked 17th County in Kenya.
Tourism is one of the highest contributors to Laikipia County’s economy as it is richly endowed with wildlife, distributed in most parts of the county extending to Aberdares.
Laikipia gets its water from the Nanyuki water and sewerage Company limited (NAWASCO) and Nyahururu water and sewerage company (NYAHUWASCO).
The area has good mains electricity, landline, and mobile telephony. Main roads in the area are bitumen and in a good state of repair and maintenance while feeder roads in the ranches are paved and earthen roads that are navigable.
Key to note, in the wake of a growing population and evolving economic state of the county, the county government is in the process of revising the zoning regulations that are intended to guide land use standards, zoning schemes and ordinances for all urban settlements in the County, to facilitate physical planning.
The main towns in Laikipia County include; Nanyuki town, which temporarily hosts the county headquarters, Dol Dol, Rumuruti and Nyahururu.
Cytonn focused on Nanyuki Town, which lies northwest of Mount Kenya and currently has a projected population of 63,022.
Nanyuki is famous for farms, ranches, game parks and wildlife conservancies in the region, in addition to hosting the British Army Training Grounds.
Factors Driving Real Estate Investment in Nanyuki, Laikipia County
Over the last 5-years, Nanyuki has witnessed increased real estate activities in the town and its environs driven by:
- Tourism
Nanyuki hosts key tourist attractions such as the Ol Pejeta Conservancy and Mount Kenya National Park. The town thus acts as a major tourist circuit to Mt. Kenya and the Northern Region, enhancing demand for hospitality services which continues to promote the hospitality sector,
- Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
The informal sector constitutes an estimated 98 percent of business in Kenya, contributing to 83.4 percent of jobs as per the 2018 KNBS Economic Survey.
There is an increase in the number of SME’S due to ease of business registration as it now takes a maximum of 2 weeks. Nanyuki hosts several of these companies such as Mawingu Networks that require office space and housing for the employees, hence drive the demand for real estate.
- Devolution
Decentralization has opened up major towns across the 47 counties attracting government institutions, private investors and entrepreneurs across all the county headquarters.
This has increased the urbanization rate hence attracting financial institutions such as ECLOF Kenya and Faulu Kenya, to the county level to tap into the unbanked population.
The positive demographics, attributable to devolution have thus, created demand for office space, retail space and residential units to host investors and government officials, and
- Hosts the British Army Training Grounds
The British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) is a training support unit of the British Army located in Nanyuki under long-standing coop