Nairobi, July 13 -- You walk to your bank and take a Sh30 million mortgage. The repayment period is 20 years, giving you monthly instalments that comfortably fit your income.

Life takes an unexpected turn two years later. Perhaps your business flourishes, you receive a substantial inheritance or you sell another property at a handsome profit, making you enough money to clear the mortgage balance.

Will the bank still demand the interest that would have accumulated over the remaining 18 years? Remember, you had already committed to paying decades of interest since you signed a long-term mortgage agreement.

It is a concern shared by many aspiring homeowners that discourages some from taking mortgages.

Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (KM...