Barclays to fund buyers of Centum apartments

Barclays Bank of Kenya #ticker:BBK has signed an agreement with the real estate arm of Centum Investment Company to finance buyers of properties being developed in Kilifi and Nairobi at discount interest rates.

The loans will be priced at a range of between 11.5 percent and 11.9 percent, Centum Real Estate’s managing director Samuel Kariuki told the Business Daily.

This represents discounts of up to 1.5 percentage points compared to the current maximum lending rate of 13 percent by commercial banks.

The bank will fully fund houses sold at below Sh10 million and provide 90 percent financing for units priced above that level.

“The signing of this (agreement) with Barclays signals our commitment to ensuring that Kenyans have an opportunity to own a home in a master-planned city that integrates world class infrastructure and recreational amenities which seamlessly blend a live, work and play lifestyle,” Mr Kariuki said.

Barclays’ director of retail and business banking, David Hardisty, said the deal is part of the lender’s strategy to expand its housing loans portfolio.

The bank is among a group of local lenders that acquired stakes in Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company, a public-private company that will provide long-term funding to financial institutions offering housing loans.

“Barclays has been playing in the mortgage space for many years offering some of the longest-tenured mortgages on the market of up to 25 years and will continue expanding its products and services in this area,” Mr Hardisty said.

Centum is currently constructing 2,822 residential units, with plans to put up a total of 10,000 houses in East Africa targeting middle class buyers over the next five years.

The agreement will see Barclays finance purchases of both completed and off-plan units in the agreement that currently covers Palm Ridge Estate and Awali Estate in Kilifi County, The Riverbank Apartments and Cascadia Apartments (Nairobi).

The company is building 1,255 one, two and three-bedroomed houses at Palm Ridge retailing at between Sh2.5 million and Sh4.6 million.

The Riverbank Apartments comprises 168 units of one, two and three-bedroomed units whose prices range from Sh16 million to Sh30 million. Cascadia Apartments also feature 400 units of one, two and three-bedroomed houses retailing from Sh8.5 million to Sh23 million.