President William Ruto has promised to offer affordable land to both public and private developers to spur his housing agenda in the country.
Addressing a joint sitting of the bicameral Parliament on Thursday, September 29, Ruto maintained that his government was working to scale up the affordable housing programmes through giving land deals that are less costly to Kenyans.
Ruto in his inaugural address in Parliament, further noted that his government would provide funding to the developers involved in the mass production of his housing agenda.
Defending his plan, the head of state insisted that the plans would help address the endemic issue of urban settlement in areas such as Nairobi and Mombasa.
"We will work on the provision of land for affordable land both public and private. We will provide access to affordable and stable financing for those engaged in social affordable housing across the country," he stated
"These two measures will allow us to make mass housing production and thereby shape our approach to urban development and spatial planning unlike before we will deliver sustainable human settlement," Ruto added.
The Commander-in-Chief explained that the housing agenda was anchored on providing incentives to developers to invest in his scheme.
He, however, informed elected members of his plan to table legislation to help his government undertake the housing off-take plan.
"I also wish to express our intention to bring to this House legislative proposals to provide a framework for a housing off-take plan, which will create incentives for developers to invest more money into our housing strategy on the strength of guaranteed off-take of the completed units," Ruto stated.
To actualise the infrastructure projects within his housing agenda, Ruto expressed his willingness to adopt the Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) funding framework, which he insisted was essential in cutting government expenses.
On electricity, the head of state hinted at allowing Kenyans to form cooperatives to help in mass power production.
"Concerning electricity, we shall facilitate the development of innovative and effective modalities to provide better off-grid systems, including enabling consumers to form small cooperatives for that purpose," he stated.
On September 7, Ruto vowed to introduce a housing scheme allowing Kenyans to pay a monthly mortgage of Ksh5,000.
Speaking during a parliamentary group meeting with Kenya Kwanza leaders, Ruto pledged to execute the plan to help Kenyans get houses at cheaper rates.
