On Tuesday, March 26, Principal Secretary for Housing Charles Hinga tabled a new proposal in the treasury suggesting that civil servants should pay up to triple their current rent dues.
Speaking during an audit query before the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, the PS justified his proposal by citing that rent within the government-issued houses had not been reviewed for more than 23 years.
“We wrote to the National Treasury on the rent issue and told them to allow us to increase it because we believe that it is high time we looked at this matter. The committee should note that the last review was done in 2001," explained Hinga
The PS revealed that the civil servants living in low-cost government houses have been paying an average of Ksh2,200 with some areas such as Mbotela having the civil servants paying Ksh1,000.
“Rent for civil servants averages Sh2,200 but there are those who pay as low as Sh1,000 a month for a single room in Mbotela Estate on Jogoo Road. For the super scale public servants they pay as high as Sh30,000 per month for a three-bedroom along State House Road,” stated PS Hinga.
If the proposal is accepted by the Treasury, the civil servants will now pay triple the amount. Those who pay Ksh30,000 will start paying Ksh80,000-100,000 in rent for the upmarket houses such as those along State House Road.
According to the PS, the price revisal will help the government collect funds that will be used to upgrade the houses.
The PS further lamented that the current rates did not reflect market rates and were costing the government millions in revenue collection
Further details reveal that more than 56,000 civil servants living in the units would be affected by the price changes.
The proposal comes at a time when the government received the green light from Parliament to collect the affordable housing levy of 1.5%.
Additionally, on Sunday, the President announced giving a 2-year rent amnesty for individuals living in Makadara Government houses to allow their relocation to new government units constructed under the Affordable Housing programme.
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