Court clears path for modern housing units in Nairobi’s Woodley estate

The Environment and Land Court in Nairobi has dismissed a petition from the Woodley Residents Welfare Association and other groups aimed at halting an urban renewal housing project in the city’s Woodley Estate.

This ruling allows the Nairobi City County Government, in partnership with Africa Reit Limited, to move forward with plans to build modern housing units.

Justice M.D. Mwangi on Wednesday stated that the issue had already been resolved by a competent court.

"This court finds that the petitioners' intention in filing this petition is to re-litigate an issue that has already been decided by a court of competent jurisdiction; by giving it a cosmetic facelift and renaming it a constitutional petition," he said.

The court upheld the Nairobi County Government's application, dismissing the petition and ruling that it amounted to an abuse of court processes.

The petitioners sought to prevent the eviction of current tenants, arguing that the sale of homes in the area involved corruption, which excluded many original tenants from ownership.

Tenants compensated

In August 2024, Governor Johnson Sakaja announced that the county had compensated 43 tenants with Sh900,000 each to facilitate their relocation, ensuring they would receive allotment letters for ownership of the new units once the project is completed.

The county government emphasised that the issue had already been addressed in a previous case, ELCC 2054/2007, which made the current petition res judicata, or legally impermissible to reopen.

With the court's decision, the path is now clear for the construction of 1,900 modern housing units in Woodley Estate.

This comes at a time when Sakaja's administration has been put on the spot over the slow progress of the city's affordable housing projects.

Members of the county assembly have raised concerns that the Pangani and Jeevanjee projects, launched in 2018, have stalled despite their importance to residents.

With Nairobi's population growing steadily, the demand for housing also increases.

Phase one of Nairobi's affordable housing project which was launched in 2018 aimed to develop eight estates. However, up to date, only two have taken off but have not been completed.

They include Pangani, Jevanjee, Ngong Road, Uhuru and Suna Road estates as well as Inspectorate staff quarters.

Currently, Pangani, which cost Sh25 billion, is finalising the setup of eight blocks that will have 1,562 units standing on 5.2 acres of land.

Jevanjee, formally known as Bachelor Quarters, has 1,900 units being set up from land that was previously occupied by 81 houses.