Kenya is considering a major overhaul of how banks assess mortgage applicants, with the government pushing lenders to use mobile-money transactions, SACCO savings, rental payments, utility bills and business records to determine the creditworthiness of Kenyans without formal salaries.
The proposed shift could open the mortgage market to millions of traders, farmers, freelancers, small-business owners and other workers whose incomes are largely earned outside formal employment.
Principal Secretary for Housing and Urban Development Charles Hinga said the move was necessary as Kenya accelerates construction of affordable homes but faces a bigger question — who will be able to afford them?
Speaking at the opening of the 5th Kenya Affordable Housing Conference in Naivasha on Thursday, Hinga said more than 280,000 housing units are currently under construction, representing about Ksh731.5 billion in contract value and supporting more than 640,000 direct and indirect jobs.
More than 45,000 units are expected to be completed by December at an estimated cost of Ksh52 billion.
However, Hinga warned that the number of houses constructed should not be the ultimate measure of success. “Ownership is not a single door. It should be a corridor with several doors, each opening onto the same outcome,” Hinga said.
He called for the development of a standardised affordable housing mortgage with common requirements for eligibility, underwriting, documentation, valuation and loan servicing.
The framework would allow lenders to assess borrowers based on how they actually earn and spend money, rather than relying almost exclusively on payslips and formal employment records.
Hinga proposed the use of mobile-money transaction histories, SACCO savings, rental payment records, utility bills and business transactions as alternative indicators of a borrower's ability to repay.
Such a system could significantly widen access to mortgages for Kenyans in the informal economy, who often struggle to meet conventional lending requirements despite having regular incomes.
Kenya currently has about 30,000 mortgages, a figure Hinga said must rise sharply if the country is to turn its affordable housing programme into actual home ownership.
“The goal is to move Kenya from approximately 30,000 mortgages towards one million by building not only houses, but the market that places Kenyans inside them,” he said.
Hinga also said the government could integrate the Boma Yangu affordable housing platform, which has more than 1.29 million registered Kenyans, with lenders. The integration would allow prospective homeowners to move more seamlessly from registration and prequalification to allocation, financing and eventually acquisition of title.
Financial institutions, however, warned that mortgage affordability cannot be separated from the cost of building and servicing homes. Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) said constrained investment finance, rising construction costs and limited supplies of serviced land continue to push up the eventual price paid by homeowners.
“We are looking at the entire housing journey while seeking to make these solutions more accessible and responsive to evolving customer needs,” said KCB Director of Mortgage Business Caroline Wanjeri in remarks delivered by Senior Manager, Affordable Housing George Laboso.
The bank called for greater use of alternative construction materials and developments incorporating energy efficiency, sustainable materials and climate-resilient infrastructure.
Shelter Afrique Development Bank CEO Thierno-Habib Hann said the challenge was even more pronounced across Africa, where more than 80 per cent of the workforce earns within the informal economy.
He argued that conventional housing finance models often assume formal employment, reliable land records, long-term funding and mature financial markets — conditions that do not reflect the realities of many African economies.
Hann called for blended finance, alternative underwriting, capital-market instruments, green housing finance and digital solutions to expand access.
Meanwhile, Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (KMRC) CEO Johnstone Oltetia said the housing sector must address both supply and financing simultaneously. “Let this be the conference where we stop measuring housing by what we plan, and start measuring it by what we deliver,” Oltetia said.
The KAHC 2026 conference, themed “Scaling the Base: Unlocking Inclusive and Sustainable Housing Solutions,” brings together policymakers, lenders, SACCOs, developers and housing specialists. The conference ends on Friday, August 21.
