The Central Bank of Kenya has licensed the country’s first mortgage refinance firm.
The regulator said the Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (KMRC) which was established in 2018, as a non- deposit-taking financial institution under its supervision in issuing mortgage-backed bonds and other instruments in order to increase the availability and affordability of mortgage loans to Kenyans.
“The license has been granted pursuant to the CBK (Mortgage Refinance Companies) Regulations, 2019 after KMRC’s fulfillment of the stipulated licensing requirements,” said the CBK on Friday.
The Government of Kenya through the National Treasury owns twenty (20) percent of the Company while the remaining eighty (80) percent is divided among eight (8) Commercial Banks, one (1) Microfinance Bank, eleven (11) SACCOs and two (2) Development Finance Institutions.
KMRC will start lending Kshs 37.2 billion out of the Kshs 40.0 billion raised to Kenyans earning a maximum of Kshs 150,000 per month and seeking to purchase affordable housing units.
The mortgage loans will be capped at Kshs 4.0 million for those seeking residence within the Nairobi Metropolitan Area (NMA) and at Kshs 3.0 million for all other areas outside the NMA.
KMRC has announced plans to issue a green bond in 2021 with the aim of raising funds for lending to retail lenders for onward lending to their customers.
