Affordable housing project to stall if Sh25b not approved, says PS
National
By
Irene Githinji
| Mar 19, 2026
Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga is now warning that the affordable housing projects risk stalling if the Sh25 billion they are seeking is not approved.
Hinga yesterday told the National Assembly Committee on Housing, Urban Planning and Public Works that the National Treasury has failed to allocate the funds to the ministry they had invested in Treasury Bills, which are now maturing.
According to Hinga, the Treasury has declined to factor the money in the Supplementary Budget one for 2025/2026 and that may interfere with running operations for the remaining three months of the financial year, including paying thousands of youth.
“The State Department for Housing will not be able to pay contractors or spend the Sh6 billion generated monthly from the Housing Levy for the months of April, May, and June, 2026, due to the constraint fiscal space for the department,” he said.
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He says they wrote to the National Treasury asking them to comply but they declined.
“This issue must be sorted out because it is money that was already appropriated. The Sh25 billion we are requesting will precipitate an increase in the fiscal framework, which is sensitive to the National Treasury and the country. All the ongoing projects risk stalling and the impact could be so huge,” he added.
The PS also explained that the investment in the 90-day Treasury Bills cannot be rolled over. He has now written to the Central Bank of Kenya, asking them to channel the monies to the ministry’s account by end of this month. But they still cannot spend because it has not been factored in the Supplementary Budget.
“If this programme stalls, it would mean that we would not pay anyone for three months, where will we take all these young people, it is not just about the fiscal space but the economy. We are asking for Sh25 billion because in the last Government there were about seven projects but are now about 1,700.
According to Hinga, the department, which is the implementing agency, the Affordable Housing Board had expended about 79.5 per cent of the total allocated budget as of January.
The department proposed internal budget realignment under the Affordable Housing Levy to reflect projected expenditures up to June 30 as had been approved by the board.
He said the board proposed an increased expenditure of Sh2 billion under the development vote to be financed through the housing levy for titling of all projects aimed to promote uptake of affordable housing units.
At the same time, Hinga has said at the beginning of 2025/2026, the department’s verified pending bills amounted to Sh1.5 billion out of which bills amounting to Sh1.2 were forwarded to the verification committee at the National Treasury.
“During the FY2025/56, the department has paid bills amounting to Sh239.8 million. The remaining bills totalling to Sh58.5 million are in the process,” he explained.
He said the mandate of the department has been expanded to spearhead the government’s agenda of delivering 250,000 affordable and social houses annually and 400 markets.