The Kenyan government’s ambitious affordable housing agenda is facing a major funding crisis after Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga appealed to Members of Parliament to help secure an additional Ksh150 billion to keep the programme on track.
Speaking before the National Assembly Committee on Housing, Urban Planning and Public Works on Tuesday, May 13, the State Department for Housing and Urban Development warned that current budget allocations are far below what is needed to sustain the government’s nationwide construction targets.
Addressing lawmakers, PS Hinga made an emotional appeal, urging Parliament to aggressively lobby for more resources to prevent delays in the implementation of one of President William Ruto’s flagship projects.
“We asked you to go and fight for us, the Ksh25 billion. Now we have come back to you, I don’t know, six times the Ksh25 billion,” Hinga told the committee.
“We are asking you to go and prosecute the case that we need Ksh150 billion,” he added.
The PS explained that although the Affordable Housing Programme currently raises nearly Ksh100 billion annually through various streams, the amount remains inadequate as demand for low-cost housing continues to surge in major towns and rapidly growing urban centres.
According to Hinga, the programme requires approximately Ksh228 billion in the 2026/27 financial year to remain operational and meet construction timelines. However, the National Treasury allocated only Ksh50.6 billion directly to the Affordable Housing Programme within the broader Ksh135.8 billion budget assigned to the State Department for Housing and Urban Development.
The government is targeting the construction of at least 2,000 affordable housing units annually under the initiative, which forms a key pillar of the Kenya Kwanza administration’s economic transformation agenda. However, officials now fear that funding shortages could significantly slow down delivery and derail planned projects across the country.
Hinga also revealed that the government is exploring alternative financing mechanisms aimed at reducing dependence on direct Treasury allocations. These include proceeds from housing sales and securitised receivables, which he said could inject up to Ksh100 billion into the programme over time.
“We have given the CEO the target of 50 billion now because, Chair, the sales have a long runway and then the securitisation receivable, which is an income of another 100 billion,” Hinga stated, referring to Affordable Housing Board CEO Sheila Waweru.
The appeal now places Parliament under increasing pressure to balance the government’s housing ambitions against growing concerns over Kenya’s fiscal constraints and public debt burden.
Lawmakers are expected to deliberate on the proposal in the coming weeks as scrutiny intensifies over the sustainability of the affordable housing levy and the broader financing model behind the multibillion-shilling project.
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