The Government has reaffirmed its pledged to construct 200 housing units in each of the 290 Constituencies across the Country as part of its ambitious Affordable Housing Program.

Housing and Urban Development PS Charles Hinga says, so far, the Government has awarded 17 contracts in Lot 1 for development and advertised a further 35 in Lot 2.

Hinga said the move is part of ongoing efforts to devolve the Affordable Housing Program outside Nairobi County and its environs and enable more Kenyans to access the houses.

Speaking at the ongoing Devolution Conference in Eldoret, he revealed that more than 30,000 housing units will be erected for the police to accord the officers decent houses.

The PS noted that the Affordable Housing is part of President William Ruto administration’s bid to empower more Kenyans to afford decent housing units and help reduce inequality.

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He added that the program will offer job opportunities for the youth and women in the construction sector as well as the Jua Kali artisans among others and spur economic growth.

“We are where we are because we left the housing problem to the private sector, we stopped funding National Housing Corporation, which was behind estates like Jericho, Ziwani, Buruburu among others,” said PS Hinga.

He said the private Sector provides houses for only 3 per cent of Kenyans making home ownership a pipe dream for most due to prohibitive land, financing and construction costs.

The Government is also planning to construct 214,000 units for university students against a demand of 640,000 housing units in the institutions of higher learning across the country.

He was speaking in a session at the Devolution Conference in Uasin Gishu County dubbed ‘The Constitutional Right to Housing; A Reflection of the past 10 years of Devolution.’

Kitui Governor Julius Malombe pledged the commitment by counties to collaborate with the National Government to make Affordable Housing a reality to benefit low-income earners.

The affordable housing program, one of President Ruto’s legacy projects, is expected to be financed by monies collected through the recently enacted Affordable Housing Levy (AHL).

On Tuesday, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) announced that deductions of the new Affordable Housing Levy (AHL) will incorporate regular allowances earned by employees.

“Gross monthly salary constitutes basic salary and regular cash allowances. This includes housing, travel or commuter, car allowances and such regular cash payments and would exclude those that are non-cash as well as those not paid regularly such as leave allowance, bonus, gratuity, pension, severance pay or any other terminal dues and benefits,” said KRA.

The new Act introduced a mandatory housing levy in which an employer deducts and remits 1.5 per cent of each employee’s monthly gross salary and tops up with a similar amount.