President-elect William Ruto on Wednesday, September 7, vowed to introduce a new housing fund that will allow Kenyans to own homes by paying a monthly mortgage of Ksh5,000.
Speaking during a Parliamentary Group meeting at his Karen residence, the outgoing Deputy President maintained that the plan was achievable and offered a cheaper option for future homeowners compared to renting.
He noted that the state had already built a one-bedroom house in Pangani at a price of Ksh1 million - way cheaper than the rates quoted by the construction companies.
He explained that interested buyers will be comfortable paying the Ksh5,000 a month mortgage. To rent the same house, however, they should be ready to part with northwards of Ksh15,000 monthly rent.
"In the next two weeks, I want you to pay a visit to Pangan where we have a model programme for our housing. We have actually built a house for Ksh1 million. A good house with a bedroom, sitting room, kitchen, toilet and shower. The mortgage for buying that house is Ksh5,000 per month. It is the only programme where rent is going to be higher than mortgage.
"If you were to rent that flat, you would probably pay Ksh15,000 or Ksh20,000 but it is going to cost paying mortgage Ksh5,000. A two bedroom, Ksh10,000 for mortgage," Ruto told the congregation.
He noted that the plan was first floated in 2018 but was overcome by the political temperatures at the time.
In his speech, the President-elect challenged the Kenya Kwanza MPs to support the proposal when it lands on the floor of the House to actualise his manifesto.
"We have a plan where failing is not an option. In that plan, there is a big portion that you have to help us with the heavy lifting. We will be proposing certain amendments to the law. We will be proposing some new legislation to take care of what we want to do or to facilitate the implementation of our plan.
"We will be proposing the establishment of the housing fund that is going to underpin our housing programme. It is something that we should have done in 2018," he added.
The project is also slated to be replicated across the 47 counties but it is still not clear when the timelines for its implementation will kick off.
"When we say we want to do the housing programme, it is possible for us to have enough affordable houses for all the citizens," he reiterated.
In his manifesto, Ruto noted that the country has a yearly housing deficit of 250,000 units yet the country is only able to deliver 50,000.
He therefore vowed to grow the number of mortgages from 30,000 to 1,000,000 by enabling low-cost mortgages.
He also promised to ensure an increase in housing to 250,000 a year through public private partnership.
