Tenants living in government-owned residential houses will have top pay more following the latest move to increase rent by 10 per cent.
PS Ministry of Lands, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development Charles Hinga through a memo has said that the move is to allow the State Department to increase Appropriation-in-Aid (AIA). (AIA means any revenue that a State government entity receives and is approved by the Legislature of that entity to finance its activities.)
According to the PS, on January 18, 2021, his department wrote to his Treasury counterpart Chris Kiptoo and the respective ministries, departments, and agencies that benefit from the provision of an increase in the rent paid for government residential housing by 10 per cent.
“The State Department for Housing and Urban Development on 18th January 2021, wrote to the National Treasury, notifying the Treasury and the respective Ministries, Departments, and Agencies that benefit from the provision of Government Housing, of an increase in the rent paid for Government Residential Housing by 10%.
“It was noted then, that the rent rates have stagnated since 2001 for most Government Housing, therefore it remains an avenue that can increase Appropriation In Aid (AIA) for the State Department in line with the observations made in the meeting held on 22nd September 2023 with you on enhancing AIA for the State Department,” read the statement in part.
The government indicated that the new rates would take effect from November 1, 2023.
Kenyans are expected to feel the pinch following the rise of the cost of living in the recent past.
The high cost of living has been partly caused by additional taxes introduced in the Finance Act.
Employees are already facing a monthly cut of 1.5 per cent of the their salaries to finance the Affordable Housing Programme championed by President William Ruto.
In his quest, Ruto noted that the money would help finance the construction of over 200,000 houses.
