The government plans to construct new housing units for the elderly under the Affordable Housing Programme, Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga has announced.

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Speaking on Tuesday, September 22, during a meeting with Kenyans in New York, United States, Hinga said the new housing units will specifically target ageing parents of Kenyans living abroad.

According to the PS, the proposed housing developments would address concerns among members of the diaspora who want their ageing parents to live in better settlements with access to essential services.

"Last time, you asked that your biggest challenge as a diaspora is that you want to take care of your parents back home. Some of them have become old, and you want them to live in settlements where there is better health care," Hinga stated.

📌 What You Need to Know

"So we want to start putting up homes under our affordable housing program where you can even have nurses, doctors and all those other things so that now you can be able to put your parents," he added.

The initiative, the PS noted, would provide Kenyans living abroad with the option to secure suitable housing for their parents while they continue to live and work abroad.

The proposal comes as the government continues to expand its affordable housing programme, with Hinga saying the initiative is designed to accommodate Kenyans across different income brackets.

The announcement comes amid reports of stalled Affordable Housing units over a Ksh118.3 billion funding shortfall.

According to a report by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO), over 176 projects have stalled due to delayed payments to contractors , representing about 15 per cent of the projects under construction.

“The stalled projects include 16 affordable housing projects, 22 social housing and slum upgrading projects, 91 institutional and student housing projects and 47 social and physical infrastructure projects,” the report stated.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke