New rules on pensions get backing

Housing & Urban Development PS Charles Hinga Mwaura and Octagon Africa Group CEO Fred Waswa. [James Wanzala, Standard]

Investors in the property and pension sectors have welcomed the new mortgage regulations that allow the use of retirement savings for house purchase.

The Retirement Benefits Act was recently amended to allow members of retirement benefit schemes to utilise a proportion of their accrued savings to purchase a residential house.

“This mortgage loan regulation is a good incentive for members to save knowing that as much as they are saving for their long-term objective, retirement, there is an immediate intervention when they want to acquire a house for themselves,” said Octagon Africa Group chief executive Fred Waswa during a three-day consultative investment conference in Nairobi that brought together various stakeholders.

“This conference is for us to put our heads together and come up with administrative actions to assist the trustees in the implementation of this new regulation.”