The National Assembly is set to commence public hearings on the Affordable Housing Bill, 2023 next week.
The House through the Departmental Committees on Finance and National Planning and that on Housing, Urban Planning, and Public Works have lined up public meetings to jointly collect views from the public on the Bill across nineteen counties, starting January 17, 2023, for two weeks.
The scheduled hearings will see the legislators visit Narok, Embu, Kisii, Kirinyaga, Homabay, Kiambu, Vihiga, Machakos, Uasin Ngishu, and Turkana Counties.
Other devolved units where lawmakers will collect views include Baringo, Nairobi, Wajir, Nakuru, Nyandarua, Tana River, Kilifi, Nairobi, and Mombasa Counties.
The Affordable Housing Bill 2023 has already undergone the First Reading.
The Bill was born out of the need to create a comprehensive framework for the affordable Housing Program following a High Court order that declared the housing levy unconstitutional.
The Affordable Housing Bill (National Assembly Bill No. 75 of 2023) sponsored by the Leader of the Majority Party, Kimani Ichung’wah, seeks to provide a legal framework for the establishment of the Affordable Housing Fund, access to affordable housing and to give effect to Article 43(1)(b) of the Constitution on the right to accessible and adequate housing.
The Bill further seeks to impose the Affordable Housing Levy to finance the provision of affordable housing and associated social and physical infrastructure.
