A realtor, Njuki King’ori, has urged the government to fully adopt the rent-to-own model, through the Tenant Purchase Scheme (TPS) in allocating Affordable Houses.
King’ori, who is the General Manager of the Kenya Professional Realtors Association (KPRA) says, through the model, the government will accommodate the majority of Kenyans in the program that seeks to transform home ownership in the country.
In the model, the government or the developer enters into an agreement with the tenant to pay a deposit that will be agreed upon. The tenant then moves in to occupy the house and pays rent for a certain period to own the house.
King’ori notes that the model is the only way more Kenyans would benefit from the program as they may not be able to pay cash or seek credit from financial institutions.
“It is a challenge for a common Mwananchi to access a mortgage from the banking sector because there is the need of saving history, credit rating and so on. There is so much that comes to you before you get a mortgage,” he disclosed.
He commended the government for the Affordable Housing Program to construct low cost houses that can benefit locals saying that, before the idea, the option that was available of mortgages was for the affluent.
King’ori urged other willing financial institutions, organizations and corporations to join hands with the government and provide finances to further lower the cost of the houses to be affordable for every Kenyan.
He noted that the cost of the houses, though still on the high end, cannot go below the capped price due to the high cost of materials and other costs that make it hard for the government to lower it further.
“The factors affecting the cost of housing are land, materials, taxes and all those, even the raw materials like cement, stone. Some developers have even shifted to prefabs which have also become costly,” he noted.
The Realtor also called for institutions in real estate to establish more affordable houses and sell through the rent-to-own model to provide more options for Kenyans apart from the Government’s program.
In the Affordable Housing Program, the government has provided options of cash payment for the units, mortgages and home financing of rent-to-own through the Tenant Purchase Scheme for a period of 30 years.
To be considered in the AHP, a Kenyan is required to dial *832# or visit the Boma Yangu Portal through the E-Citizen to register.
They are then required to make savings to count towards a deposit of 10 percent of the total cost of the house they prefer in order to be considered for allocation once the unit they selected is complete.
The Government targets to construct at least 200 Affordable Housing Units in every constituency in Kenya in the first phase with many of the units expected to be completed by the end of this year.
By Moses Wekesa
