President William Ruto has said the Government will streamline the affordable housing programme to make home ownership a reality for low income earners.
The President said he will work with legislators and development partners to find the most viable formula of achieving the affordable housing plan.
He said: “The housing plan was premised on a couple of things that we needed to sort out; first is to make sure there is land, technology to build houses faster and in a cost effective manner and financing both for construction and mortgage.”
The President spoke at MET site Mukuru in Nairobi during the inspection of the ongoing affordable housing project.
The President said the Government was committed to ensuring Kenyans paying rent become homeowners through the rent to own mortgage plan.
He said: “Those paying Sh3,500 rent will pay Sh3,000 as mortgage, and in 20 years the houses will belong to them.”
President Ruto said the housing plan will provide decent shelter for low income earners and create jobs in various sectors in the construction industry.
He said Jua Kali and TVET institutions will be key in achieving the affordable housing plan by helping in mass production of doors, windows and hinges, among other products.
He said: “Mass production will reduce the cost of the products and thus houses.”
At the same time, President Ruto appealed to legislators to support the Housing Fund bill to help the government provide cheaper mortgages and enable millions of families to own homes.
President Ruto said at the moment the government is relying on the Slum upgrading that he said was inadequate.
He said: “I am confident that our Parliament will work with us so that we can do the right thing and provide the financial infrastructure: from construction to mortgage to support those living in informal settlements.”
He was accompanied by Cabinet Secretaries James Macharia (Transport, Housing, Infrastructure and Public Works), Simon Chelugui (Labour) Farida Karoney (Land), Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga, Nairobi Deputy Governor Njoroge Muchiri MPs Esther Passaris (Nairobi County), Felix Odiwuor (Langata), James Gakuya (Embakasi North) and Benjamin Gathiru (Embakasi Central), Mwafrika Augustine (Roysambu) among others.
Mr Macharia lauded President Ruto for making the Affordable Housing Programme a key agenda in his administration, a move he said has had a positive impact on investors.
He said: “On financing, many banks have already come on board as a result of the President’s support to the project.”
Mr Macharia will complement the housing project with other Infrastructure projects like roads, water and sewage to ensure the project is successful.
Mr Chelugui said the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) was committed to supporting the affordable housing programme.
He however said the limited contributions from members had hindered the organisation from pursuing mega projects.
He said: “NSSF is the largest provident pension fund financing the project. But it is constrained in what it can do in such mega projects because of the low contributions.”
Ends.
