KCB, GDC ink deal on affordable mortgage financing

KCB Bank Kenya and Geothermal Development Company (GDC) have entered into a partnership that will enable employees of GDC across the country access affordable mortgage financing from the Bank.

KCB Bank will be giving the mortgage at affordable interest rates for a maximum of 20 years as per the Salaries & Remuneration Commission circular dated December 17, 2014, SRC/ADM/CIR/1/13 Vol.III (128). This will enable them buy readymade houses, undertake construction of own homes, purchase plots and enjoy equity release facilities.

KCB Group Chief Operating Officer Samuel Makome said the cash-backed scheme arrangement is one of the innovative ways that KCB Bank has developed through partnership with institutions, to facilitate affordable long-term mortgage financing that allows single digit borrowing.

“We are keen at delivering affordable housing to Kenyans by participating in both the supply and demand side,” Mr. Makome said, “At the moment the housing demand remains high and it is only through such partnerships that we will manage deal with the challenge.”

The GDC members of staff will be able to make applications for home loans across any of the over 200 KCB network of branches across the country.

Commenting on the partnership, GDC CEO and Managing Director Johnson Ole Nchoe welcomed the move terming it as a big boost that will motivate staff and contribute towards attraction, retention of requisite skills in GDC and in support of the Big Four Agenda.

The partnership will see KCB, through its Property Centre run a series of campaigns across all counties where GDC operates that will enable link the employee’s access to a database of housing units across the country.

The KCB Property Centre is a one-stop shop that partners with reputable developers to link home buyers to houses available for sale in the country.

The Bank is keen to roll this programme out to other corporates as well as county governments as an initiative towards the achievement of the delivery of 500,000 units through affordable mortgage financing.