Kenyan property owners grappling with tough economic times that have wreaked havoc in the country are at risk of losing their estates to auctioneers pushing them to offset loans.
Adverts for property worth millions of shillings have permeated local dailies in recent weeks with apartments and cars listed for auction.
Properties put up for the auctioneers' hammer include prime lands, maisonettes, bungalows and apartments in high-end estates in Nairobi.
Among the valuable assets listed include an incomplete four-storey block of flats and a residential block located around the Kasarani area.
A 4 bedroom villa situated within a gated community known as Rivers Edge Estate in Redhill, Limuru is also among the advertised properties as well as a three-bedroom bungalow located at the Oloosuritia road which is off Ngong-Kiserian Road.
The advertisements also feature a 0.0424 hectares residential property within Elgon Street Ruiru Area in the vicinities of Zetech University and the Ruiru Rainbow Resort, off the Eastern bypass that has been slated for sale on Wednesday, October 5.
Also standing out in auction adverts is Prime Hotel in Murang'a County, situated off the Sagana- Marua Road. The hostel sits on 1.13 an acre of land, with a clubhouse and conference rooms among other amenities. The auction date for this property was set for October 12.
Other properties lined up for auction include the vacant 0.25 hectares plot in Kibarage Estate in Loresho and a five-storey commercial block situated in Busia Town around Busia Referral Hospital.
Most of these auctions are attributed to the failure of owners to meet the financial obligations that come with owning land and property. These obligations include land rates and servicing mortgage loans for those who acquired the assets through credit facilities.
According to a Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) report released in August, Kenyan borrowers had defaulted over Ksh 87 billion in the first half of 2022.
As such, the CBK raised an alarm of possible auction as lenders often turn to auction loan securities in a move to recover the non-performing loans.
Notably, the new administration of President William Ruto has committed to working towards affordable housing in both rural and urban settlements.
According to the Kenya Kwanza manifesto, Ruto will endeavour to formulate policies that will in turn transform the housing challenge into job opportunities.
He further promised to provide low-cost mortgages of Ksh10,000 and below to alleviate the hurdles faced by Kenyans with ambitions of owning homes but are instead exposed to the walloping of auctioneers.
“Housing is enshrined in our Constitution as one of the basic social and economic rights, to wit, the right to “accessible and adequate housing, and to reasonable standards of sanitation” (Art. 43(b),” the manifesto stated in part.
“Kenya Kwanza will grow the number of mortgages from 30,000 to 1,000,000 by enabling low-cost mortgages of Sh10,000 and below possible," it added.
The President further pledged to introduce a new housing fund that will allow Kenyans to own homes by paying a monthly mortgage of Ksh5,000.
"In the next two weeks, I want you to pay a visit to Pangani 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 the mortgage," Ruto assured the nation.
