By Margaret Kalekye
Homeowners in President William Ruto’s affordable housing plan will pay a fixed 3pc interest rate over a repayment period of 30 years.
The President who Friday spelt out the attractive terms, said the scheme will be open to every Kenyan without favoritism or discrimination.
‘You don’t have to know anybody, technology has made it possible for us as an administration to eliminate knowing people, favoritism, corruption that you have to pay somebody to get what you want. The system has no human interaction,’ he said.
” Now that we have the housing levy, we will not only make the houses a lot more affordable, but there will be a mechanism for you to access a mortgage to make it possible for many Kenyans to own homes” added the President.
While unveiling the upgraded www.bomayangu.go.ke, on eCitizen, Ruto announced that 367,000 Kenyans have already registered, becoming the first potential homeowners.
The portal is among an estimated over 5000 government digital services that has been launched by the President.
According to Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga, Ksh1.8B has so far been contributed towards the housing programme which has 33,000 active savers.
Already over 25000 Kenyans are voluntarily saving on the portal which the PS describes ias a marketplace ecosystem that brings together developers, financiers, technology providers, land owners, and home buyers.
Hinga says the first 200 housing units in 29 constituencies are ready. Other parcels of land in 178 constituencies across the country are under evaluation.
In the portal, developers are able to upload images of their projects and interact directly with potential buyers who at the same time can track the progress of the ongoing projects.
The platform shall also support other actors such as MSME’s and artisans as a supporting tool for the provision of employment youth and women.
Similarly, financial institutions have been integrated into the portal and are therefore able to access potential mortgage takers.
It connects Kenyan citizens both local and in the diaspora to AHP and access to Tenant Purchase Scheme (TPS) for offtake of the houses.
More than 38,500 housing units commissioned for development under the Kenya Kwanza Administration are in various stages of construction across the Country.
The journey to homeownership is broken down into three steps:
Registration
Home applicants can self-register onto Boma Yangu through the *832# USSD code or by visiting the www.bomayangu.go.ke website. One must be a Kenyan Citizen, above 18 years, and have a valid National Identity Card. Those interested can sign up with as low as Ksh200.
Saving
After registration, home applicants can make voluntary savings.
Owning
Home applicants qualify to be allocated a home once their savings reach 10% of the price of their preferred housing unit.
