Employed Kenyans will be allowed to use their payslips to access affordable houses, as the government acts to counter low uptake by Kenyans.
President William Ruto announced on Thursday that Kenyans with a payslip but lacking the deposit required for one to be allocated a house would be accommodated to boost home ownership.
“So long as we are discussing how we will occupy the houses, whether by deposit or for those with no deposit can bring payslip we will plan how to give you a house,” he said.
The President spoke during Labour Day celebrations in Nairobi following a proposal from the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu).
He termed the proposal a “good idea”.
Cotu Secretary-General Francis Atwoli made the pitch, saying it would work since employees have representation at the affordable housing board.
“Workers should use their payslips to acquire those houses. Workers have no money for a deposit, we can use our payslips to get into those houses,” he said.
Low-income earners
With the President’s announcement, the government is expected to start considering how persons with payslips but lacking deposits for houses they qualify for will be accommodated in the programme.
The law requires that the allocation of houses under the programme be accompanied by a deposit of 10 percent but also provides room for low-income earners to get “deposit assistance”.
“An application for allocation of an affordable housing unit shall be accompanied by the deposit at the rate of ten percent of the sale price…details or a list of beneficiaries of the applicant and proof of income and ability to repay for the loan,” state the Affordable Housing Regulations 2024.
The regulations also provide room for “deposit assistance” to cater to persons who cannot raise deposits, but only for persons earning below Sh20,000 monthly.
However, it was not clear from the President’s announcement whether only workers earning below Sh20,000 would be accommodated, as the law currently prescribes. The first 4,888 homes built since Dr Ruto entered office are set for allocation.
“A person shall be eligible for deposit assistance if the person’s monthly income is below Sh20,000, the person demonstrates that the affordable housing unit to be purchased shall be their primary residence; and the estimated monthly repayment for the purchase of the affordable housing unit is less than thirty percent of the applicant’s monthly income,” the regulations state.
The announcement is coming at a time when the program has in recent months faced low uptake among Kenyans, even as the State prepares for rollout of the first 4,888 houses built since President Ruto entered office.
The latest update on Kenyans’ trend of contributing to Boma Yangu, the platform through which Kenyans apply for affordable houses, showed that only 52,000 Kenyans have saved for ownership of the houses.
“On the online portal platform, Boma Yangu, over 547,000 have registered, of which 52,000 have collectively saved more than Sh2.3 billion towards homeownership,” Treasury said in February.
The Treasury noted in the 2025 Budget Policy Statement (BPS) that only one in 10 Kenyans who had registered on the platform were actually saving.
All the Kenyans who had registered on the platforms, 547,000, were also less than 2 percent of the country’s population, and when extrapolated to Kenya’s adult population (20 years and above), the data meant that only 1 in 53 Kenyans had registered for ownership of the houses, while just one in 559 Kenyans were actually saving towards ownership through the program.
President Ruto on Thursday said 250,000 jobs have been created through the program, but did not disclose the number of houses currently under construction.
The president had promised to deliver 200,000 affordable houses every year but the promise has not been fulfilled. The government prepares to launch the first batch of 4,888 houses constructed since he came into office in the coming weeks.
“Our Affordable Housing Programme is another flagship initiative delivering real impact. By the end of April, it had created over 250,000 jobs spanning architecture, engineering, urban planning, masonry, carpentry, plumbing, and electrical work, while reinvigorating local economies,” he said.
