House is a private good, shouldn’t be given by State – Babu Owino
Embakasi East MP Babu Owino has opined that the government should not provide Kenyans with houses under the Affordable Housing Program as it is a private good.
The legislator spoke on Thursday in a phone interview with K24.
“A house is a private good, it should never be provided by the government, the government should create an enabling environment for Kenyans to construct their own houses,” he said.
Owino said the Affordable Housing units are after all too expensive for a mama mboga and boda boda to afford.
“We were told that we have Affordable Housing, how is a house affordable for Mama Mboga who should raise Sh300,000 as a deposit to own a house?” Owino posed.
“Is it possible for this mama mboga to raise Sh20,000 monthly when there are children that she is supposed to take to school, pay rent, and buy food?”
Owino said the government should instead focus on providing an enabling economy that will provide jobs for Kenyans to get money which they can use to construct their own houses.
This comes after the government on Tuesday called on Kenyans to purchase ready units of the Affordable Housing Project in Nakuru.
Construction of the project commenced on May 27, 2021, with a Sh2 billion funding by King Sapphire Developers, a subsidiary of Royal Group Industries that focuses on real estate developments.
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“Interested public is hereby invited to purchase ready units at the affordable housing project in Bondeni, Nakuru,” reads the notice by the Ministry of Lands, Public Works and Urban Development.
The project includes 605 units where 45 are one-bedroom, 180 two-bedroom, and 380 units three-bedroom.
Two bedrooms (64 sqm) are being sold at Sh3.1 million while Three bedrooms (85 sqm) at Sh4.2 million.
However, the government stated that the buyers will be required to pay a 10 percent deposit upfront to qualify.
“Qualified purchasers will be offered rent-to-own home loans at a monthly rate of two bedroom unit at Sh16,997 and three bedroom at Sh22,933,” the notice reads.
This means that one will need to deposit Sh315,000 or Sh425,000, then pay Sh16,997 or Sh22,933 per month.
The announcement by the government caused an uproar among Kenyans on social media as they felt the prices for the housing units were too expensive for the common mwananchi.
House is a private good, shouldn’t be given by State – Babu Owino