The impact of constituency appropriate building technology centres on access to housing in Kenya: a case study of Kakamega county

Abstract

This study sought to assess the impact of the Constituency ABTCs on access to housing in Kakamega County. It specifically sought to: - establish the relationship between Appropriate Building Technology (ABT) physical facilities and access to housing; determine the relationship between ABT equipment and access to housing and; examine the relationship between skilled labourers in the use of ABTs and access to housing. The study also sought to validate the hypotheses that availability of physical facilities, equipment and skilled labourers being the three parameters of ABTCs were all significant in promoting access to housing. The study adopted purposive and simple random sampling techniques in determining the sample elements from the sample frame obtained from Kakamega County Director of Housing. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data. Data analysis and presentation was done using SPSS and Excel Programs. The main study finding was that the impact of constituency ABTCs on access to housing in Kakamega County was 8.8 % according to the regression model results. This therefore implied that 91.2 % of variations in access to housing were explained by factors beyond the scope of this study. Specific findings on one hand were that availability of ABT equipment and skilled labourers had significant impact on access to housing in Kakamega County. On the other hand, availability of physical facilities had no significant impact on access to housing. The conclusion for this study was that Constituency ABTCs were relevant and could even play a more significant role in facilitating access to housing in Kakamega County. The study recommended for enhanced capacity building processes such as adequate investment in equipment, training of more skilled labourers particularly the youth and women as well as increased visibility of the physical facilities. It also recommended a policy shift from constituency ABTCs towards establishment of ABTCs at larger devolution units and in this case, the counties