President William Ruto, on Monday, May 8, announced that the government would offer free land to investors interested in funding affordable housing projects in the country.
While meeting Dutch investors in the Hague, Netherlands, the President indicated that several cities and towns were earmarked for affordable houses.
He explained that the incentive - free land - would convince investors who feared facing obstacles in land transactions, that their projects would be fast-tracked.
Additionally, he maintained that the move would benefit Kenyans given that the construction cost would be lower hence affordable prices for locals buying houses.
“We will provide land for the construction of the houses for free to reduce the cost of production,” the President stated.
On the other hand, he added that the government would also consider tax incentives for the investors, focusing on the taxation of imported goods.
"A specific intervention we have put in this budget which has been problematic to our investors is Value Added Tax (VAT) returns.
"The decision we have made is that any pending VAT refunds that have not been paid in six months can be deducted from other taxes by individuals," he stated.
Besides affordable housing, the Head of State also called for investments in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), healthcare and the creative economy.
Ruto's commitment to free land came amid criticism over the planned mandatory 3 per cent salary deductions for the Housing Fund.
Under the proposed deductions, the government intends to build affordable houses for Kenyans through salary deductions that provide capital for the construction of the houses.
To this effect, a number of workers' unions and Azimio announced that they would challenge the move by Ruto's government in court.
“Why would anyone who doesn’t need a house be compelled to pay 3% of their salary? We need a review of this," former Prime Minister Raila Odinga stated.
