Affordable housing is one of the Big Four agenda that President Uhuru Kenyatta is focusing on. Certainly, it is because this is his final term in office. The other three include food security, manufacturing and affordable healthcare for all.
The passage of the Finance Bill in September last year paved the way for workers to be deducted 1.5 percent of their monthly pay. This will finance the new low-cost housing. Housing Principal Secretary Charles Mwaura told a parliamentary committee the houses will be built in the next four years. To add to that, they will cost Sh1.3 trillion. These are aimed at ensuring middle-income households have access to decent and affordable dwellings.
Further, he said that there will be three categories of houses depending on the level of income. These are: social, low-cost and mortgage gap. The social houses will be for people earning up to Sh14,999, low-cost (Sh15,000-49,999) and mortgage gap (Sh50,000-99,999).
Cost of Affordable Housing
One-bedroom houses will cost Sh600,000. Those buying them are expected to pay Sh2,500 per month for 25 years. Under the same house category, a two-bedroom house will cost Sh1 million, for Sh4,500 per month. Similarly, a three-bedroom house will go for Sh1.4 million, for Sh6,500 per month.
The houses will be located in all the 47 counties. Also, they will be constructed on both national and county government land.
Mr. Mwaura said the national government will have
VETTING
Members of the public will be required to register in the online portal. They will be asked to indicate the preferred location of their houses. Moreover, they will be provided with information on the type of home they qualify for. With this in mind, it will be based on the income of the applicants.
According to the PS, some of the prequalification criteria to be used to award the houses will be income, family size, choice of preferred location of home, current assets owned and accumulated deposit.
