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Affordable Housing Projects are Missing Land Ownership Documents

The sale of units built through the government’s affordable housing project could be derailed due to lack of land ownership documents, the Auditor-General’s report reveals.

• Records show that the State Department for Housing and Urban Development entered into contracts for the construction of affordable houses at a total contract sum of KSh 49.5 billion. 

• However, land ownership documents for the projects were not provided for the audit.

• The government has said it will release 5, 000 affordable housing units in April. 

“In the circumstances, it could not be confirmed on how the sectional titles would be processed without the original land ownership documents and this could hinder the affordable houses sale to the public,” the Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu says in her latest Blue Book.

According to the State Department, the projects are located on both public and private land across the country. In addition to providing state-owned land, the government is also meant to facilitate the transfer of titles and architectural drawings.

In January, the Cabinet Secretary for Lands, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development Alice Wahome said that the government has built 140, 000 affordable houses since the project begun. CS Wahome added that the state is aiming to build 200,000 units annually. 

The government has also under-utilised a KSh 30.74 billion loan facility it signed with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) in 2019. By June 2024, the government had only drawn KSh 12.8 billion from the facility. The loan is meant to support the Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company and to finance technical assistance. 

The Auditor-General has also faulted the State Department for Housing for the low rent collection for government houses under its watch. The government should collect about KSh 1.3 billion from the 49, 555 it owns. Between July 2023 and June 2024, rent revenues were only 74% with an underperformance of more than KSh 342 million. 

“The under collection of rent is likely to impact negatively on the ability of the state department to meet its revenue expenditure target,” report says.

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