Chai Housing Co-operative Society limited was established in 1995 under the Co-operative Societies Act chapter 490 of the Laws of Kenya.
The main objective/mandate of the society is to provide for its members living accommodation within the area of its operations at a fair price together with such related services as water, roads, lighting and other physical amenities.
At the inception stage, the society operated under Chai Savings and Credit Co-operative Society limited as a subsidiary but it separated from the Sacco in June 2004.
In 1996 the society acquired the first piece of land of 50 Acres in Juja area near Muigai Inn. This Project is referred to as Juja phase I. The land was subdivided into plots and allotted to members who qualified for allotment. The allotees were required to construct their houses on the plots upon issuance of title deeds. However in 1997 the society came up with an idea of constructing the houses for members through a loan scheme. This was to be referred as Chai Housing Estate Project. The society embarked on plans to source for the construction loan and at the same time work on the preliminary stages of the project. These included feasibility studies, project planning /design and hiring of various relevant consultants. To carry out these initial activities a bridging loan was borrowed. Unfortunately negotiations for the main loan were not successful due to high cost of borrowing and other technicalities. The project was therefore abandoned but this left the society in a big financial problem.
The society was heavily indebted and some consultants were demanding compensation for breach of contract. Between 2001 and 2005 the society was struggling to pay debts and fight court cases. The land in Juja was facing attachment but with the support of members and ministry of co-operative development the society was able to clear some problems.
Upon recovery from the above problems the society moved to process title for the allotees to Juja I plots.
After Juja phase I project the society moved to Kitengela area and acquired 25 Acres of land which was also subdivided and allotted to members. Titles for individuals’ plots were processed and issued to them. This scheme is referred to as Kitengela Phase I. Another 20 Acres were bought in the same area and processed to the level of title deeds for individual plots. This one is referred to as Kitengela phase II project.
Thereafter 46 Acres were acquired in Mavoko area. Since the location is near Kitengela Township the project was named as Kitengela phase III. This land has also been subdivided and allotted to members. Title have been processed and issued to members. The society has gone back to Juja area where 30 Acres of land have been acquired. A scheme plan has been prepared and approved by the County Government of Kiambu. Plots have been sold out to the members and there are awaiting title processing. This is the second project in Juja area and has been given the title of Juja phase II. In total the society has so far purchased 171 Acres of land and allotted more than 1000 plots to over 600 members of the society.
All along, the society has been acquiring the above project by use of member’s deposits and the bigger portion through external funding (bank loans). In the year 2016 besides shares for purchase of plots the society introduced another form of capital namely ownership shares. This is where members own the society through purchase of shares. The response from members is encouraging and so far about Kshs.2M has been raised. This is expected to reduce dependence on loans in financing projects. Dividends to shareholders are also expected to increase.
To achieve better results, the society wishes to have a structured means that would provide a roadmap for revenues at a higher rate than it has done in the past. This society hope to review the strategic plan so as to include changes that have taken place within the Housing sectors.The society membership has been increasing gradually since inception and currently it has 650 members.
To satisfy our members demand, the Society is looking ahead to coming up with a new project in the near future. We highly value our members.