Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga has revealed the houses most Kenyans are seeking to buy under President William Ruto's Affordable Housing Programme and four facts Kenyans need to know about the initiative.
Speaking during an interview on Spice FM, Hinga revealed that two-bedroom houses, which attract a monthly rent-to-own rate of Ksh10,400, were the most popular.
These houses are categorised under Affordable Housing and target Kenyans who are earning between Ksh20,000 and Ksh149,000.
The units are projected to be priced at Ksh1.9 million.
"We have the two-bedroom units which are the most popular of the units we have been selling. They are going very fast," he stated.
Other Key Facts to Note
Deductions for the Informal Sector
Following the Affordable Housing Act coming into effect, the 1.5 per cent income deductions immediately came into effect. He indicated that Kenyans in the informal sector will be guided by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) on how the money will be collected.
"The responsibility of collecting taxes lies with KRA. KRA has always made efforts to deal with turnover tax. This will be the same case for this. Responsibility of collection is with KRA and therefore they have to come up with measures to ensure that everyone pays," he stated.
Employed Kenyans on the other hand will have the salary deductions effected from their pay slips from this month.
Selling of Houses
Under the affordable housing programme, Kenyans will not be able to sell their houses without approval from the board managing the programme.
Hinga explained that the move was aimed at ensuring that unscrupulous business individuals do not craft a scheme of buying the houses and rent them out to other people with the bid of making a profit.
Ksh78 Billion Collections
Following the inclusion of the informal sector into the Housing Levy programme, Ruto's administration is estimated to collect approximately Ksh78 billion every financial year.
The money will solely be used for the development of the houses.
Standard Prices
Following wide consultation, the government has drafted standard costs and qualities for materials that will be used in the housing projects.
According to Hinga, these standards aim to ensure that the houses are affordable for Kenyans in the long run.
"We sat down with the President to rework costs. When we talk about misappropriation of money it is not someone going to the bank to withdraw but through misappropriation in projects. So you can find a project costing Ksh3 billion eventually costing Ksh6 million.
"So we called the universities to design the houses and then we brought it the experts such as engineers to estimate the costs," he stated.
