Kenyans tackle huge housing shortage to stem spread of slums

Athi River, Kenya

RECENTLY married with a one-year-old child, Joan Moraa Mbogo dreams of escaping Kenya's noisy, dirty, crime-ridden capital and buying a home close to her mother's newly-built apartment overlooking the Lukenya Hills.

Machakos County, which starts 20 kilometres south-east of Nairobi, is popular with young Kenyans unable to afford decent homes in the city, where most developers are only building houses for the richest 10 per cent of residents. "I'll get a house here and we'll become neighbours," said 28-year-old Ms Mbogo.

In July, Ms Mbogo's mother moved into Karibu Homes Riverview, a 19-acre (about eight hectares) development that is set to include 1,000 apartments, sh…