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It will be difficult to sell an affordable housing unit to another buyer once the purchase has been done should the Affordable Housing Regulations be adopted by Parliament.

The regulations which are still undergoing public participation stipulate that a purchaser of an affordable housing unit who intends to sell or agrees to sell the unit or any interest therein to any other person shall seek the consent of the Board in accordance with section 54 of the Act.

“A purchaser shall not sell their affordable housing unit until eight years after completion of payment of the agreed price has lapsed,” reads part of the regulation.

The regulations propose an application for consent to sell an affordable housing unit shall be made, in writing, to the Board indicating the reasons for the request.

Distort market

Yesterday, while appearing before the Senate Delegated Committee chaired by Tharaka Nithi lawmaker Mwenda Gataya Mo Fire, Housing and Urban Development Principal Secretary said that they will not allow purchasers to sell the units because they will distort the market.

According to Hinga, they had established that there could be individuals who could use proxies to purchase several units with a view of selling them at the market value, which is higher than the affordable housing unit prices.

“If we allow purchasers to sell the units then we will be distorting the market and the affordable housing scheme. We must now come up with the regulations that will regulate the transfer of the units from one person to another,” said Hinga.

Hinga for instance explained that a three-bedroom housing unit along Park Road under the affordable housing program is Sh3.5million while the same unit costs Sh7.6million at the current market value.

The draft regulations further state that a person shall be eligible to apply for the allocation of an affordable housing unit if that person is a citizen of Kenya, is above the age of 18 and has not been previously allocated an affordable housing unit by the Board.