President William Ruto has announced affordable mortgages for Kenyans as the government steps to ensure low-income earners have access to affordable houses.

Speaking on Thursday during the handover of the Buxton housing project in Mombasa, Ruto said the new loan facility will offer lower interest rates compared to those of a bank.

“We are going to operationalize Affordable Housing Financing. It was passed by the Cabinet, and Lands CS will gazette it in the coming two weeks,” he said.

He disclosed that low-income earners will pay an interest rate of as low as 3 percent a year as compared to the market rate of 18 percent annually, to own a house.

Deposit, instalments you’ll pay to own 1 to 3 room Ruto houses worth up to Sh. 5.76mn

“The current mortgage of 18 percent will be reduced to 3 percent for the social housing (lower class). Those for affordable housing (middle class) will now have the mortgage at 6 percent, and the rich will have the mortgage reduced from 18 to 6 percent. We want all Kenyans to own houses.” Ruto added.

The Head of State also revealed that he will scrap all taxes from raw materials in the affordable housing process to speed up the delivery of the projects at a lower cost.

He also launched the construction of 2,000 unit-Mzizima Affordable before handing over the 584-unit Buxton Point Affordable Housing Phase I to its new owners.

The 584 units were built through a partnership between GulfCap Real Estate and the county government of Mombasa, which provided the land.

In Nairobi, the president said over 40,000 houses are under construction, with 30,000 others expected to kick off in December 2023.