Kenya can borrow a few ideas from Singapore, which has successfully provided affordable housing for its citizens through an integrated housing approach that ensured a proper and well-coordinated process through the Housing Development Board (HDB), which also provided estate management services. De-risking arrangementsThey could also be incentivised by the investment structure, which seeks to de-risk the investment into the affordable housing and, or make the same bankable. The mortgage issue will be resolved through the Housing Fund and the Kenya Mortgage Refinancing Company to introduce secondary liquidity and the Housing Fund, which will be a mandatory contribution. The current ratio of rent to mortgage in Kenya is 1:6 — a huge disparity indicating an overly priced and unaffordable housing system. A win-win ventureIt’s believed that for every one shilling injected in the housing sector, three shillings will be generated, meaning it will accelerate economic growth.

Source: Daily Nation February 28, 2019 06:33 UTC