The National Assembly's joint finance and housing committees have finished gathering public input on the contentious Affordable Housing Bill of 2023.
On Wednesday, the two committees will meet with the Ministry of Housing to reconcile differences of opinion before withdrawing to prepare their final report, which will be discussed in Parliament.
Tuesday's meeting, the joint committees' 12th and final opportunity for public participation, was primarily devoted to discussing other ways the government can fund the project without adding to the already high tax burden on the populace.
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"The biggest question is we all agree there is a deficit for houses and the houses that exist in the market are not affordable to many people that earn much less and we agree we must intervene and you propose that we have a fund that you contribute, then I benefit from the fund, this means the same people that have access to mortgages have access to the funds, this means people that are at the bottom of the pyramid who are not able to raise that money, we again have a continuous problem," said Finance committee Chairman MP Kuria Kimani.
"We believe the challenge of affordable housing is big and we don't think it can be solved by a singular decision, not introduce a housing levy and think it will work, it requires a cocktail," Kenya Association of Stock Brokers and Investment Banks CEO Willy Njoroge said.
ICPAK Chairman Philip Kaikai added, "The idea is good, but why can't we make it a slum upgrading project? In my county, Kakamega, people stay in homes as opposed to apartments. We go around the country putting up homes, yet we have Kawangware and Kibera, where you could put homes, and they rent cheaply."
Tax lawyer Robert Kamwara, on his part, stated: "We would wish that there is proper public participation so that people know the benefits so that they can contribute willingly."
After the court ruled that the affordable housing program's financing component was unconstitutional, the committee sought ways to get money. It came up with the idea of using a real estate investment trust.
"How do you propose other sources of funding to this housing other than what is in the Bill because you seem to be targeting the money collected without increasing the cake," said Finance Committee Vice Chair Benjamin Lang'at.
NSE's Strategy, Risk, and Compliance Chief Officer David Irungu opined, "At the NSE, we have Ksh.1.6 trillion trading in shares and Ksh.4.6 trillion in government stock. We are looking at the real estate investment trust actually being able to surpass the equity shares. The Ksh.4.6 trillion is government stock. We represent the face that would be there to help the government raise these funds."
"Farmers, where I come from, would realise their income at the end of the farming period, employees are PAYE, how do we bring the two on board so that we bring all Kenyans on board so that we address the issue That why have I contributed while somebody else enjoys the house?" Kesses MP Julius Ruto posed.
Mr. Njoroge added, "We are shooting ourselves in the foot. We are trying to create a stock of houses and then saying, "Let us tax whoever is providing the funds. The private sector is interested in providing affordable housing. Can we do away with these taxes that make it difficult?"
Once again, the Bill's proposal to allocate money to the National Housing Corporation was questioned.
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"We find this confusing and unrealistic…NHC has its own source of revenue and its own way of accounting, and by taking 30% of the money there, we will be assisting NHC raise revenue while hitting employees hard to raise the money…we are proposing that that be abolished," said Kamwara.
MP Kimani added: "I find your thinking on NHC unique that the 30% allocation NHC being a commercial entity means employees of NHC will be contributing money to their employer without having a benefit of it."
Technical University of Kenya representatives begged the committee to include students among the beneficiaries.
They prayed, saying, "Let's not just look at the common mwanachi, can we focus on students that get through rental at an affordable rate?"
On Wednesday, the committee and the housing ministry will meet.
