A research study done by the government in 2018 - which anchored President William Ruto's Housing Fund proposal - outlined six loopholes of similar affordable housing projects undertaken in 10 countries.
The 139 paged report titled - Preparation of the Programme Master Plan of the Affordable Housing Agenda Under the Big Four - highlighted government over-ambition, lower income bands programme implementation and insufficient project funding among concerns raised in the implementation of the project.
High mortgage interest rates, lack of regulatory framework and public agitation against resettlement were also highlighted.
The 10 countries studied were Singapore, Egypt, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Cameroon, India, Nigeria, Mexico, Brazil and Cameroon.
"Such projects are extremely capital-intensive. In most cases, governments struggled to allocate enough budget from the exchequer or through compulsory contributions to ensure the successful implementation of the projects," read the report in part.
Under the over-ambitious target loophole, the report detailed that most governments set targets that could not be met by the private property developers and the government. This led to challenges in the delivery of projects.
"In Singapore and Cameroon, there were litigation cases mostly related to land ownership and resettlement that contributed to the delay of projects due to long court battles.
"These were majorly caused by the lack of formal land and housing policy in place thus agitating the public against resettlement," read the report in part.
On the other hand, the report cautioned countries planning to undertake the programme against lacking a regulatory framework that caused many court cases in countries such as Nigeria and Ethiopia.
Speaking on Citizen TV on June 7, Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga explained that the fund will only be operationalised after regulations are put in place.
On the challenge of high mortgage interest rates, the report revealed that some countries offered mortgages at interest as high as 12 per cent.
This prevented a number of citizens from taking up their homes.
In beating this challenge, Hinga noted that they would offer free land to investors to build the houses. This, he stated, would lower the cost of houses.
