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Housing PS Charles Hinga is upbeat the government’s move to settle pending bills of its suppliers and contractors, will unlock capital investment for affordable housing projects.

It comes even as investment firm Cytonn unveiled a regulated collective investment scheme seeking to mobilise Sh30 billion to fund the construction of 6,000 mid to low income houses.

Yesterday, Hinga said he expects the property market to absorb the bulk of Sh154 billion which counties, State ministries, departments and agencies (MDSs) owe suppliers and contractors.

Economic blueprint

“We expect that when those funds are released they will fuel growth of affordable housing which is part of the President’s Big Four agenda,” he said when he unveiled Cytonn’s regulated fund.

Already 275,000 people have signed up to the affordable housing programme under the Big Four economic blueprint where 500,000 units are supposed to be constructed before 2022.

Of those, 17,000 individuals are already making contributions to offset the ambitious national housing infrastructure programme.

In June this year, the Employment and Labour Relations Court suspended the formation of an advisory board to run and manage the housing fund, dealing a blow to the project.

A month earlier, the same court had suspended the implementation of the 1.5 per cent housing tax for salaried workers, arguing that it was unconstitutional and amounted to double taxation.

Creative solutions

Cytonn Asset Managers Ltd (CAML), the regulated affiliate of Cytonn Investments, Cytonn Asset Managers, launched the first specialised and regulated collective investment scheme in Kenya, focusing on financing mid to low income housing, known as the Cytonn High Yield Fund (CHYF).

Chief executive Edwin Dande said the firm is keen to provide creative solutions that will ensure the affordable housing agenda is attained.

“CHYF allows another avenue for the private sector to bring regulated capital towards the development of low to mid-income housing. Therefore, we believe the fund is in line with the government’s agenda of attaining affordable housing by 2020,” said Dande.