The first Monday of October is also the World Habitat Day.

This year the theme Urban Crisis Response resonates well with the objectives of Optiven as a key player in the real estate sector. The day highlights sustainable, scalable, and transformative solutions to urban placement helping stabilize populations, while promoting prosperity and fostering social cohesion for all.

It puts the spotlight on the importance of urban and territorial planning, inclusive urban governance, and the role of local governments in sustainable solutions for displacement.  While there are a number of reasons why people do not have habitats to call home, two key ones stand out – climate change and economic hardship.

These two are the key factors in how Optiven organizes it’s properties by embracing sustainability through the GoGreen Initiative and by providing affordable properties for investors to ensure as many buyers as possible acquire properties. https://www.optiven.co.ke/newsblogs/optiven-delights-customers-in-july-investors-get-3k-cashback-on-purchases-of-land

Dr. George Wachiuri, CEO Optiven Group has reiterated the need to have rent payers becomes landlords as a key towards empowering people to better lives. According to Wachiuri, Optiven’s core objective is helping Kenyans and global citizens to tap into the projects in the portfolio, which have been developed over time, as well as provide support to receiving finances to enable the process.

Wachiuri adds that as adherents to the Sustainable Development Goals specifically goals 1 and 11, Optiven is on an upward trajectory to not only provide opportunities to property ownership, but to also walk the journey of developing the property to a home with a target of settling investors in 300,000 homes by the year 2030. https://www.optiven.co.ke/newsblogs/optiven-on-course-to-address-urban-land-challenges/

Head of Financial and Management Accounting at the Optiven Group, Mr. Ephantus Kirika notes that a major challenge affecting investors wish to property ownership is access to finances. He notes that at Optiven, this challenge has been the key to providing not just affordable properties. According to Kirika, “at Optiven we are not just about selling land but also offering open doors to investors, enabling them to access finances through our partnerships with key financiers. This collaboration is one of the reasons Optiven has been singled out for it’s financial inclusivity.” https://www.optiven.co.ke/newsblogs/optiven-is-the-best-in-embracing-financial-inclusion/

The background of this status alongside the observation of the World Habitat Day is a catalyst to continue thinking out of the box with regard to enabling investors to take home ownership up as a priority. According to the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census, 7,379,485 Kenyans owned their homes, which was 15.4% of the total population of 47.6 million at that time. More recent data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) indicates that in 2024, the share of Kenyan households owning homes dipped to 61 percent, up from 59 percent in 2019.

As the world celebrates Habitat Day, a record 122 million people are forcibly displaced and – in an increasingly urbanizing world – displacement is becoming an urban phenomenon. Over 60% of internally displaced persons are seeking refuge in cities, putting pressure on local systems. This is accelerating urban growth, while changing territories significantly; making urban crisis response and urban displacement a timely focus for the 2025 World Habitat Day.

The theme focuses on addressing multiple crises affecting urban areas – including climate and conflicts – that are contributing to inequality, and promotes existing tools and approaches to effective crisis response. The World Habitat Day is recognized by the United Nations to reflect on the state of towns and cities, and on the basic right of all to adequate shelter.

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