Ruto faces new affordable housing headache amid governors’ fresh demands

Through the Council of Governors, the county bosses are demanding at least 10 per cent of the affordable housing units.

In addition, they want a grant from the national government to manage and maintain physical and social infrastructure around the units.

They also want the construction of the houses to be subjected to the county development approval process to increase their revenues.

The fresh demands now pose a fresh headache to the President, whose administration is implementing the programme as its flagship project.

In a write-up seen by the Star, governors complain they get nothing in return for surrendering land, including some prime property, for construction and despite maintaining infrastructure.

The Affordable Housing Programme (AFP) is a flagship initiative to increase the supply of affordable housing and ease the national housing crisis. Implementation requires collaboration among the national government, county governments, and private developers.

“Counties are increasingly being requested to identify and allocate public land for the development of affordable housing projects,” the council said.

“Upon completion, the land and developments are often intended to be converted into private sectional units registered under the Sectional Properties Act, 2020, to allow individual ownership.”

They argued that, as public land is a public asset, the process of allocation and conversion must comply with the constitution, the Land Act, 2012, the County Governments Act, 2012, and the Sectional Properties Act, 2020, among other statutes.

The governors said that under the Affordable Housing framework, County Public Land is leased to the Affordable Housing Board through a Head Lease.

The parcel is then converted to private leases under the Sectional Properties Act, through which county governments retain substantial benefits and revenue opportunities.

“The county government, as the lessor, remains entitled to annual ground rent payable by the lessee (AHB) and subsequently by the individual sectional title holders,” the governors said.

This rent constitutes County Own-Source Revenue (OSR) under Article 209(4) of the Constitution and should be incorporated into the County Finance Act or relevant rent schedules.

Upon registration of sectional titles, each unit owner becomes liable for payment of property rates to the county government under the National Rating Act 2024.

This broadens the rate base of the county, increasing annual property tax revenue.

“Counties can ring-fence part of these proceeds for maintenance of access roads, drainage and service infrastructure supporting the housing estates,” the governors said.

Given the situation, the CoG said, “The Council of Governors’ position is that 10 per cent of the completed housing units should be retained by the county government as rental housing stock, in recognition of the value of prime land relinquished by counties for the programme.”

This allocation, they said, will expand the counties’ affordable rental portfolios, addressing housing for lower-income residents and public servants.

The governors said counties bear the responsibility for off-site and connecting infrastructure—such as access roads, water, drainage, street lighting, waste management and social amenities.

To prevent fiscal strain, such infrastructure should be funded through conditional grants or ring-fenced budget allocations from the national government under the Affordable Housing Levy, they said.

“The Council of Governors advocates for a conditional infrastructure support framework to ensure each project is serviceable, sustainable, and integrated with existing county systems,” they said.

They demanded that all Affordable Housing projects must be subjected to county development approval processes as provided under the Physical and Land Use Planning Act, 2019.

This ensures that project locations are compatible with county zoning plans, spatial development frameworks, and infrastructure capacity.

“Counties should issue development permits and occupation certificates only after verifying compliance with approved plans, building codes, and environmental requirements,” they said.

INSTANT ANALYSIS

The Affordable Housing Programme (AHP) is a flagship initiative under the national government’s Housing Agenda aimed at increasing the supply of affordable housing units. Implementation requires collaboration between the National Government, County Governments, and private developers.