President William Ruto has described Kenya’s largest-ever housing and infrastructure initiative as a major engine for employment and national development, noting that it has already created hundreds of thousands of jobs, with numbers expected to surpass one million next year.
Speaking during the State of the Nation address, Ruto highlighted the construction of 230,000 affordable homes and 178,000 student beds, which are easing long-standing accommodation shortages across the country.
“We broke ground across the country, and while some initially doubted these projects, those doubts have given way to a very different question from Kenyans everywhere: how do I own one of these units?” he said on Thursday Of the student beds, intended for universities, technical institutions, and colleges, 74,000 are already under construction, transforming areas where fewer than 10 percent of students previously had adequate accommodation.
By late 2025, the Affordable Housing Programme (AHP) had between 140,000 and 161,911 units in various stages of construction across 44 counties, with 3,171 units completed and handed over to beneficiaries.
Recent handovers include 1,080 units in Mukuru and 220 in Elburgon, while about 11,000 units are nearing completion. Demand remains high, with over 800,000 Kenyans registered on the official Boma Yangu portal, and all 1,050 units in the Ruiru project sold out two months before completion.
The programme caters to multiple income brackets: social housing for those earning below Sh20,000 per month, with bedsitter units starting at Sh840,000 and monthly payments of Sh3,200 under a rent-to-own scheme; affordable housing for those earning Sh20,000–Sh149,000, with studio units from Sh960,000; and market-rate housing for those earning above Sh149,000, starting at Sh4.32 million.
The mandatory 1.5% housing levy, matched by employers, has collected around Sh74 billion by mid-2025, though over Sh30 billion remains invested in short-term government securities.
Ruto also emphasized the development of 270 modern markets nationwide, with 175 more underway, providing vital spaces for women entrepreneurs and MSMEs. Through the Nairobi River regeneration programme, 44,000 young people are restoring the river corridor while preparing sites for 10,000 social homes along the renewed riverfront.
“This programme, including housing, markets, and hostels, has created over 428,000 jobs, employing architects, engineers, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, masons, transporters, and thousands of MSMEs in fittings, fabrication, and interior design work. At peak next year, it will employ at least a million,” Ruto said. He described the initiative as a “national empowerment engine” that formalizes the informal sector, revitalizes MSMEs, restores the environment, and strengthens communities.
He added that the programme promotes equity, dignity, and sustainable development, aligning with Article 10 of the Constitution, and highlighted the government’s integrated approach linking housing, education, commerce, and environmental restoration as a model for socio-economic growth.
