Kenya Turns to Alternative Credit Data to Expand Mortgage Access Beyond Salaried Workers

By Monyonge Kebati

 Kenya is seeking to transform the way Kenyans qualify for home loans by encouraging lenders to consider alternative financial data, including mobile-money transactions, SACCO savings, rental payments, utility bills and business records.

The proposed shift is aimed at opening the mortgage market to millions of Kenyans whose incomes are largely generated outside formal employment but who may have the capacity to repay long-term housing loans.

Principal Secretary for Housing and Urban Development Charles Hinga said Thursday that Kenya’s affordable housing programme must move beyond constructing houses to creating a financial system capable of placing ordinary Kenyans into those homes.

Hinga was speaking during the opening of the 5th Kenya Affordable Housing Conference (KAHC) in Naivasha, where policymakers, financial institutions, developers and housing-sector experts are examining ways of expanding access to affordable and sustainable housing.

Kenya currently has more than 280,000 housing units under construction, representing approximately KSh731.5 billion in contract value and supporting more than 640,000 direct and indirect jobs, according to Hinga.

More than 45,000 units are expected to be completed by December at an estimated cost of KSh52 billion.

However, Hinga cautioned 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,” he said.

Opening the mortgage market to informal earners

Hinga said traditional mortgage requirements have excluded a significant section of Kenya’s workforce because many lenders continue to rely heavily on formal payslips, employment records and predictable salaries when assessing borrowers.

This model disadvantages traders, farmers, small-business owners, freelancers and other self-employed Kenyans whose incomes may be regular but difficult to document through conventional employment records.

The PS called for a common affordable housing mortgage framework with standardised requirements covering eligibility, underwriting, documentation, valuation and loan servicing.

Such standardisation, he said, could make mortgages easier to pool and refinance while attracting more long-term domestic institutional investment into the housing sector.

He also proposed an affordability framework that recognises how non-salaried Kenyans actually earn and spend.

Under the proposed approach, lenders could use mobile-money transaction histories, SACCO savings, rental payment records, utility payments and business transactions to build a more comprehensive picture of an applicant’s ability to repay a mortgage.

Boma Yangu could link buyers to financing

Hinga also pointed to the potential of the Boma Yangu platform, which has more than 1.29 million registered Kenyans.

He said integrating the platform with lenders could enable prospective homeowners to move more easily from registration and prequalification to allocation, financing and ultimately acquisition of title.

“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,” Hinga said.

Banks call for financing across the housing chain

Financial institutions said expanding mortgage access must also be accompanied by efforts to reduce the cost of developing homes.

Remarks by KCB Kenya Director of Mortgage Business Caroline Wanjeri, delivered by George Laboso, Senior Manager, Affordable Housing at KCB Bank, highlighted constrained investment finance, rising construction costs and limited availability of serviced land as factors contributing to the high cost of housing.

Wanjeri said financial institutions are increasingly looking beyond financing completed houses to supporting the entire housing journey.

“We are looking at the entire housing journey while seeking to make these solutions more accessible and responsive to evolving customer needs,” she said.

KCB also advocated for greater adoption of alternative building materials to lower construction costs, alongside developments incorporating energy efficiency, sustainable materials and climate-resilient infrastructure.

The bank noted that true affordability should also consider access to transport, water, sanitation and other essential services, which significantly influence the overall cost of living for homeowners.

Africa’s informal economy presents a financing challenge

Shelter Afrique Development Bank Managing Director and CEO Thierno-Habib Hann said the challenge facing Kenya is shared across much of Africa.

He noted 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 circumstances of many African households.

With more than 80 per cent of Africa’s workforce operating within the informal economy, Hann said housing finance models must be redesigned around the way people actually earn, save and manage their finances.

He called for greater use of blended finance, alternative credit assessment, capital-market instruments, green housing finance and digital solutions to widen access to homeownership.

From construction targets to actual homeowners

Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (KMRC) Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Johnstone Oltetia said the housing sector must tackle both sides of the affordability equation — increasing the supply of affordable homes while ensuring that more Kenyans can secure financing to buy them.

Oltetia said the sector must focus on practical solutions capable of closing the financing and supply gaps that continue to restrict access to housing at scale.

“Let this be the conference where we stop measuring housing by what we plan, and start measuring it by what we deliver,” he said.

The discussions at KAHC 2026 reflect a growing recognition that Kenya’s affordable housing challenge is no longer simply about how many houses can be built.

The bigger test is whether the country can develop a mortgage and housing finance market capable of converting the growing supply of units into actual homeowners.

The two-day KAHC 2026, themed “Scaling the Base: Unlocking Inclusive and Sustainable Housing Solutions,” has brought together policymakers, banks, SACCOs, developers, development finance institutions and housing specialists from Kenya and across Africa to explore ways of expanding inclusive and sustainable housing.