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State promises affordable loans for home buyers
Ongoing construction of the Buxton housing project in Mombasa City on February 7, 2022.
The government will provide affordable loans to Kenyans to buy homes, Housing and Urban Development Principal Secretary Charles Hinga has said.
Speaking in Mombasa on Monday, where he was inspecting a Sh6 billion housing project in the Buxton area, the PS noted that the government will partner with the National Housing Corporation(NHC) to offer tenants a house-ownership plan with an interest rate of seven per cent.
“We are going to work with NHC and see how many units we can buy, then offer the tenant purchase scheme,” he said.
“These are efforts the government is putting in place to benefit its citizens. We understand it is not perfect but every day we are striving to improve.”
He noted that the government was also considering the social housing method, especially for one-bedroom houses.
“There are those in informal businesses who do not have payslips. For them, we are looking at the multigenerational process, where they can get loans at three per cent, buy a house and pay for it in instalments for 20 or 30 years,” he said.
Some 565,000 units have been registered under the national construction data, he said.
“Between August 2017 and October last year, a total value of Sh2.8 trillion was received and approved to pave the way for 225,000 units whose construction has already begun,” he said.
“The majority are at the completion stages. But others are awaiting funding.”
Mombasa businessman Suleiman Shabal, the developer of the Buxton Point project, requested the government to partner with banks in ensuring Kenyans can get affordable loans.
"We have built beautiful and affordable homes but we are urging the government to allow its citizens and especially Mombasa residents to be assisted with affordable loans to buy these homes,” Mr Shahabal said.
He assured the public that before June the first phase will be completed and 582 units delivered to their respective owners.
The PS also urged Kenyans to embrace the Buxton project.
Mr Hinga noted that those suing to challenge the project had lost confidence in what he termed the “Face of Kenya”.
“Do not allow two or three people to go to court to challenge something that is supposed to bring dignity to our country. They do not represent the majority of Kenyans but their selfish interests,” he said.
“Challenge them back in courts. Most of them have more than two houses and others own beach homes, hence the reason they are rejecting any developments.”
He challenged local developers to visit the site and learn from it instead of travelling overseas.
“This project has also proven to provide 3,000 direct and indirect jobs to locals. The benchmark has been set. We cannot go backwards but instead improve," he said.
