Nairobi, March 28 -- The Co-operative Bank has launched a 15-year mortgage loan as the lender eyes the State-backed affordable housing market.

The home loan -which is being de-risked by the Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (KMRC)- will be given at a single digit of 9.9 percent as part of the government's objective of making home ownership affordable.

"The affordable mortgage has been crafted after many months of negotiations and consultations with key housing stakeholders including savings & credit co-operative societies (saccos), housing & investment cooperatives and property developers," the bank said in a statement.

Expensive home loans, owing to a number of factors including the high cost of land, low levels of income and limited a...