The Housing Principal Secretary, Charles Hinga, has proposed a significant increase in rent for civil servants' houses. The current rent, which has remained unchanged for 23 years, averages Sh2,200 per month, with some paying as low as Sh1,000 and others as high as Sh30,000.
Hinga has written to the Treasury seeking approval to review the rent, arguing that it is necessary to maximize revenue collection and ensure fair compensation for the government's investment in housing. He proposes increasing rent for low-cadre civil servants from Sh1,000 per month and adjusting rent for super scale public servants living in upmarket areas to between Sh90,000 and Sh100,000 per month.
The Housing department has been criticized for failing to collect a potential annual rent of Sh1.524 billion from its 56,892 housing units. Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu has raised concerns about the under-collection of rent, which amounted to Sh506.59 million in the 2021/22 financial year.
Hinga attributed the shortfall to various factors, including deductions by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) that were not remitted to the State Department, uncollected rent from houses dedicated to institutions, and houses that were irregularly alienated. He also cited disrepair and security challenges as reasons for unoccupied houses.
To improve rent collection, the Housing department is implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system for revenue reconciliation and rent collection. Hinga has also requested Parliament's intervention to conduct a special audit on MDAs that have collected rent but failed to remit it, emphasizing that it is illegal to spend money not appropriated in the budget.