- Hinga cited the Park Road AHP in Nairobi where Jua Kali artisans who had been supplying window and doors to the contractor pooled money through a Sacco and bought houses.
- He at the same urged the county to set up a mortgage scheme for their employers through banks that are already financed by the government.
Image: LOISE MACHARIA
The Department of Housing has given an elaborate plan of ensuring that low income earners and slum dwellers also benefit from the multi-million shilling Affordable Housing projects.
Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga said his ministry, with the help of organisations such as the National Housing Corporations and banks, will ensure that even people in the informal sector buy the houses.
He said this will be made possible through Tenant Purchase Schemes and County Employee Mortgage Schemes which would be paid through check-off systems.
He added that Saving and Credit Cooperative Organisations for Mama Mboga and people in the Jua Kali sector would also come in handy.
Speaking during an open day at the Bondeni Affordable Housing Project in Nakuru, which is a joint venture between Kings Sapphire Developers Limited and the State Department for Housing and Urban Development, Hinga said the initiative should carry the face of Kenya.
"The government will facilitate and finance those who do not have the financial muscle to buy the houses and ensure the project benefits people from different cadres," he said.
He cited the Park Road AHP in Nairobi where 55 Jua Kali artisans who had been supplying window and doors to the contractor, pooled money through a sacco and bought houses.
The PS was responding to concerns by residents who felt the prices for modern houses under AHP were too high for those living in Bondeni and the surrounding estates of Kivumbini, Manyani, Kanyon and Flamingo low-income estates.
Bondeni has 605 housing units, comprising 45 one-bedroom units, 260 two bedroom units, and 300 three-bedroomed apartment units sitting on a seven-acre land which was donated by the government.
They will cost between Sh1.5 million and Sh4.2 million, a price that local leaders, among them, the area MCA Wilberforce Onyango felt was way above the reach of the local community.
Hinga said those under Tenant Purchase Scheme would be given up to 20 years to pay rents of between Sh5,000 and S10,000 before finally owning the houses.
He promised that the government would facilitate the NHC to ring fence 100 two-bedroom houses for the people of the low-income estates surrounding the project.
The PS, who was accompanied by Nakuru county commissioner Erastus Mui and Deputy Governor Erick Korir, said the 45 one-bedroom houses should also be set aside for the people in informal sector.
"NHC will cater for people with payslips while those without payslips will be helped to set up saccos after which the ministry will give them loans at three per cent interest," he said.
He urged residents in informal sector to form saccos early enough and have sufficient saving by the time the project is completed in December 2023.
He said residents would feel hurt if they were unable to buy the houses yet they had been born and brought up in the area.
Hinga at the same urged the county to set up a mortgage scheme for their employers through banks that are already financed by the government.
He urged the contractor, Kings Sapphire Developers, to upgrade the nearby Bondeni maternity as part of their corporate social responsibility project.
(edited by Amol Awuor)