•According to the Kenya Alliance and Residence Association (KARA), the spike has been triggered by demand, as rents in upmarket go back to pre-covid era.
•Satellite towns and residential areas in city outskirts are increasingly becoming new homes for Nairobi residents seeking cheaper alternatives.
Vincent Omondi, a father of three is busy moving furniture out of his rented apartment in Nairobi’s Roysambu residential area, as he laments about high rent.
He had received a notice of intention to increase rent by Sh1,500 which would see him pay Sh24,500 for the two-bedroomed house he has lived in for the past 10 years.
The increase, which is the second over the period he has been a tenant at the building, got him thinking and he decided to seek a cheaper house in Huruma Estate, a low-income residential estate in the city.
“I cannot afford this. If you add utility bills such as electricity, water and garbage, this house will cost me up to 30,000 shillings a month,” he exclaimed.
According to Omondi, he had secured a two-bedroomed house at Sh17,000 which saves him Sh7,500 on rent, money he says can be put to other uses such as paying school fees.
For *Mwadime, a resident of Umoja’s Innercore area, he has opted to downgrade to a bed-sitter within the same building which goes for Sh8,500, from a Sh15,000 one-bedroomed house.
Residents of Nairobi's upmarket estates such as Kilimani, Lavington and Westlands are also crying out about rising rents where a one bedroom which a few years ago went for an average Sh30,000 has risen to Sh50,000, with two-bedroomed houses asking up to Sh90,000.
“I opted to move to Kitengela because those houses were becoming unaffordable,” *Catherine, who used to reside in Kilimani told the Star.
This is the plight of many residents in Nairobi and other major towns as rent, just like other basic needs, has skyrocketed.
According to the Kenya Alliance and Residence Association (KARA), the spike has been triggered by demand in some parts of the city, as rents in upmarket and other major areas go back to pre-covid era.
“There was a significant drop on rents during the Covid period but now landlords are increasing rents as the economy picks up. You will now find that there is high demand in regions such as Eastlands where rents are fairly low,” KARA chief executive Henry Ochieng told the Star on the telephone.
He however noted that other cities and major towns such as Mombasa, Kisumu and Nakuru, fluctuation in rent remains moderate.
“People have no option but to adjust and live within their means,” Ochieng noted, adding that being a free market, it is difficult to regulate the rental market which is highly driven by demand and supply.
A one-bedroom at most estates in the populous Eastlands zone is averaging Sh14,000- Sh17, 000, two-bedroomed (Sh19,000-22,000) while a three-bedroomed house is ranging between Sh28,000 and Sh35,000, on average, rents which have increased in recent times.
Data from realtors indicate an average of 2.1 per cent increase over the past one year, with the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) putting its year-on-year increase (between July 2023 and last month) at 1.5 per cent.
While food inflation has dropped, pushing up the overall inflation to 4.3 per cent in July from a high of 8.3 per cent in November last year, households are still struggling with high medical bills, school fees, transport costs among other needs, with a large number of Kenyans indicating they are not relating with the said drop in the cost of living.
The July inflation means that the general price level was 4.3 per cent higher than it was in July 2023.
“The price increase was mainly driven by the rise in prices of commodities under food and non-alcoholic beverages (5.6%); transport (4.0%); and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (3.9%) between July 2023 and July 2024,” KNBS director general Macdonald Obudho noted.
A one-bedroomed house is averaging Sh12,745 according to KNBS, having increased from an average Sh12,557 last year.
Satellite towns and residential areas in Nairobi’s outskirts such as Ongata Rongai, Kiambu, Ngong, Ruiru, Kitengela, Juja, Limuru, Syokimau and Thika are increasingly becoming new homes for Nairobi residents seeking cheaper alternatives.
In Nakuru, rents are at Sh10,000-Sh12,000 and Sh17,000 to Sh20,000 for two and three-bedroomed houses in low and middle market segments.
Kisumu rents are averaging Sh12,000-Sh16,000 for a one-bedroom and Sh22,000-Sh25,000 for two and three-bedroomed houses, prices which have gone up over the last five years.
"Residents are slowly moving out of city estates in search of cheaper rental houses in the outskirts of Kisumu," Kisumu City Residents Voice (association) chairman Audi Ogaga noted.
Rent and transport are also key issues affecting Mombasa residents, the Federation of Kenya Employers coast region president Sam Ikwaye told the Star, as households struggle to make ends meet in the wake of high unemployment and tough businesses environment.
“The welfare of the people has deteriorated. Employers have to contemplate with high cost of doing business and the low productivity of employees who are struggling to make ends meet,” Ikwaye told the Star.
A recent report by Infotrak indicated that a majority of Kenyans (73%) are either in severe financial distress or struggling to make ends meet.
Most Kenyans in the survey were concerned over the cost of living, school fees, cost of energy and unemployment, which they foresee remaining a challenge this year.
“Among the areas the citizenry would need more support to cope with the economic hardships include reduction of the high cost of living, creation of employment opportunities, reduction of fuel prices, reduction of education costs, and reduction of the high taxation,” the research firm said in its report.
Meanwhile, the continued migration to satellite towns has continued to push up land prices, according to real estate firm-HassConsult.
This, together with high construction costs are projected to push up rent prices in these areas.
In the satellite towns, the average price per acre rose by 2.2 per cent, down from 3.03 per cent in the first quarter (2024) as some of the price growth hotspots showed signs of cooling down.
"The increase in the cost of credit and that of building inputs has negatively affected real returns for developers, limiting the propensity to absorb higher land costs in areas with lower purchasing power," said Sakina Hassanali, Head of Development Consulting and Research at HassConsult.