By Kelly Mumbi
Yesterday, Prof. Njuguna Ndung’u, the Cabinet Secretary for Treasury and Economic Planning, presented the 2024/2025 financial bill.
This bill includes a significant allocation to housing and settlement development as part of President William Ruto’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda.
Kenya has taken a major step towards affordable housing development with the provisions made in the bill.
The aim is to construct 200,000 affordable housing units annually, which will in turn create between 600,000 and 1 million jobs each year.
CS Ndung’u proposed an allocation of Ksh 92.1 Billion to the Housing Urban Development and Public Works.
This fund will be divided as follows: Ksh 8.3 Billion for the Kenya Urban Program, Ksh 3 Billion for the Kenya Mortgage and Finance Company to enhance its capital and lending capacity, and Ksh 32.5 Billion for the construction of affordable housing units.
Additionally, Prof. Ndung’u allocated Ksh 11.3 Billion to the Kenya Informal Settlement Improvement Project phase 3, Ksh 1 Billion for the construction of markets, the National Slum Upgrading Program, and housing units for the National Police and Kenya Prisons.
During his speech, the Cabinet Secretary also included Ksh 15 Billion for the construction of social housing units, Ksh 14.7 Billion for social and physical infrastructure, Ksh 496.3 Million for the construction of footbridges, and Ksh 444 Million to support the construction of targeted County Headquarters.
The bill also allows for voluntary savings towards housing, with provisions for refunding these savings if a housing unit is not allocated within a specified period.