President William Ruto during the 62nd Madaraka Day celebrations in Homabay on June 1, 2025. /PCSPresident William Ruto has announced that the government will soon propose a law to Parliament allowing contributors to the Housing Levy to access affordable home loans of up to Sh5 million.
The President said the new facility will be offered at single-digit interest rates and will be available for the purchase of any housing unit in the market.
Speaking during the Madaraka Day celebrations in Homa Bay, the President said the facility will also enable contributors to offset existing mortgages, offering greater flexibility in their housing journey and allowing many to significantly ease their home financing costs.
“These reforms will ensure every shilling contributed to the housing levy works for the contributor, whether through access to affordable housing, home loans or mortgage relief.”
The announcement comes on the back of recent milestones under the Affordable Housing Programme.
Just last week, President Ruto handed over the first 1,080 social housing units in the new Mukuru Estate in Nairobi, an event he described as “one of the most profound and consequential days” in his political career.
He recounted the emotional joy of beneficiaries like Jerusha Muthoni, a grandmother and trader from Mukuru kwa Reuben, who moved from the squalor of informal settlements to a new, dignified home complete with electricity, water, and clean cooking gas.
In Homa Bay county, Ruto also handed over 110 units to new homeowners, including boda boda rider Kennedy Otieno Odede, fish vendor Hellen Atieno Osala, jua kali artisan Geoffrey Odhiambo Nyasuda, and security guard Vincent Ochieng’ Onyango.
“The journeys of homeowners like Jerusha, Kennedy, and many others are powerful testaments to the transformative promise of bottom-up empowerment,” he said.
Since September 2022, the Affordable Housing Programme has seen the construction of over 150,000 units, with 11,000 already completed. Upcoming handovers are scheduled in Nakuru, Kuria West, Nandi, Kakamega, Vihiga, and Nanyuki, among other areas.
Beyond homeownership, the President said the programme has created over 250,000 jobs, making it one of the largest employment drivers in the country.
“It is nothing short of a nation-building revolution uplifting lives, growing businesses, and redefining the future of work and urban living in Kenya,” he said.
President Ruto said the new loan policy is part of the broader vision of the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda, designed to restore dignity and hope to ordinary Kenyans.
“If you didn’t understand what we meant by ‘bottom-up’, now you do. If you didn’t believe, now you believe,” he told the nation.
“And if you thought it was a fantasy, you are now witnessing and making history.”
