Cytonn Investments on Tuesday launched the first Ownership Savings Platform within a regulated collective scheme.
The platform dubbed ‘Cytonn Affordable Housing Investment Plan’ (CAHIP) has a key objective of building a deposit towards your housing.
Approved institutions were allowed to hold savings towards Home Ownership as part of the Finance Bill 2019. The bill that was assented to by the President on November 7th, 2019, expanded the scope of approved institutions to include Fund Managers and Investments Banks registered under the Capital Markets Act, effective January 1, 2020.
With this plan, investors will be able to access a flexible platform for saving towards a home purchase. The savings plan also comes with tax advantages with a reduction of the investor’s taxable income to a maximum of Kshs 8,000 per month or Kshs 96,000 per annum, in addition to a tax exemption.
The tax exemption applies to interest income earned by a depositor on a Home Ownership Savings Plan deposit of up to a maximum of Kshs 3.0 million.
Cytonn Investments, who has structured CAHIP, partnered with the Cytonn Money Markey Fund to provide the saving platform. Those saving towards a home purchase now have this investment option, compared to those currently available in the market, with the target yield of 11.0% per annum.
Speaking at the launch, Cytonn Chief Operating Officer, Shiv Arora said the company has been constantly striving to provide solutions in support of the government’s affordable housing agenda.
“Cytonn Affordable Housing Investment Plan (CAHIP) is one of the solutions. CAHIP will provide individuals saving towards a home purchase with an attractive investment proposition, compared to those currently available in the market, and thus enhance their ability to purchase or construct a residential house,” Arora said.
However, Investing the money will mean that it can only be spent on buying land, buying a house or constructing a house. Cytonn Investments will require evidence to show that indeed the saved money was used to build a home. It is a directive from the government.
In addition, CAHIP provides a platform that will enable individuals develop a credit profile, as the savings made by a subscriber act as proof to a financial institution of their creditworthiness, thus raising their chances of accessing a mortgage loan upon maturity of the savings, in addition to encouraging a savings culture which ultimately makes it easier for an individual to acquire a home by efficiently raising a deposit for a house loan.
