The Future of Home Ownership in Kenya

Is owning a home in Kenya still realistic, or slipping further out of reach for millennials and Gen Z? This episode answers the mortgage questions Kenyans are asking: can you get a mortgage without a payslip, what happens if you cannot pay, and what will home ownership look like ten years from now? In Part 2 of this mortgage conversation on The Real Estate Room, host Sally Rugano welcomes back Patrick Macharia, Head of Mortgage at I&M Bank. This is an honest conversation about home ownership as a journey rather than a single leap. It challenges the pressure to buy a dream home first, and makes the case for starting where your income allows and growing from there. It speaks directly to the self-employed Kenyan, the business owner, contractor or entrepreneur whose income arrives in seasons rather than salaries. It covers how mortgages can be shaped around that reality, and the habits that make a lender say yes. It also confronts the fear many homeowners carry quietly: what happens when life gets in the way of repayments. Job loss, a slow business, disability and death are all on the table, along with the options that exist long before an auction becomes the only road. Finally, it looks ahead. Buyers are moving beyond Nairobi, diaspora and younger customers expect more from their banks, and affordable housing, KMRC-backed lending and tenant purchase could reshape how the next generation of Kenyans comes to own a home. If you are renting and weighing your next move, building on your own plot, or already paying off a home, this conversation will help you walk in with the right questions. Chapters 00:00 Is home ownership in Kenya becoming unrealistic? 05:33 Bite what you can chew: the growing home concept 08:24 Mortgages for the self-employed 13:31 Records to keep before you apply 16:27 When you can no longer pay your mortgage 21:12 Auctions and the reserve price 24:00 What happens to your mortgage if you die 25:58 How the Kenyan mortgage customer has changed 29:37 What diaspora and self-employed buyers expect 31:51 Paying off your mortgage early 33:19 Where the mortgage value chain needs to change 37:03 Mortgage financing in 10 years and tenant purchase 41:08 Three signs you are ready, three signs to wait 44:38 The one question to ask your bank Learn more about the I&M Miliki Nyumba KMRC-backed mortgage: https://www.imbankgroup.com/ke/im-ban... Missed Part 1? Watch the conversation on affordability, deposits and the Miliki Nyumba plan:    • The Future of Home Ownership in Kenya — Wh...   Listen and follow Website: https://realestateroom.co.ke YouTube:    / @therealestateroomke   Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033fUS3... Instagram and TikTok: @therealestateroomke Facebook: realestateroomke LinkedIn: linkedin.com/showcase/the-real-estate-room Subscribe for a new episode every two weeks. Be in the room from day one. #MortgageKenya #HomeOwnership #TheRealEstateRoom #AffordableHousing #IMBank