Rent shock looms for Mombasa tenants

A residential block in Buxton Estate, Mombasa. Residents are set to pay Sh5,000 a month for a two-bedroom house up from Sh1,900. FILE 

By Mathias Ringa,

In Summary

• Finance Bill proposes raising charges four times

More than 2,000 Mombasa residents living in the county’s houses will pay higher rent if the Finance Bill is passed. The Bill proposes raising rent for houses in Buxton, Kisauni, Tom Mboya, Mvita, Likoni, Changamwe, Nyerere and Kizingo estates.

If the proposal is adopted, residents of Buxton will pay Sh5,000 a month for a two-bedroom house up from Sh1,900.Those occupying three-bedroom houses will pay Sh6,000 up from Sh1,788, while charges for shops will rise from Sh2,243 to Sh10,000. Kisauni tenants will pay Sh5,000 a month up from Sh2,858 for a two-bedroom house.

A two-bedroom house in Likoni will go for Sh4,000 up from Sh1,920, while those occupying three-bedroom houses will pay Sh7,500 instead of the current Sh2,080.

Those staying in one-bedroom houses in Mvita will pay Sh5,000 up from Sh2,285, while those occupying two-bedroom houses will pay Sh10,000 instead of Sh2,585.

In Changamwe, a three-bedroom house will go for Sh3,000 up from Sh1,350, while rent for shops will be between Sh4,000 and Sh5,000 from the current Sh1,030 to Sh2,660.

Repair houses

The county’s executive officer for Lands, Planning and Housing, Mr Francis Thoya, defended the proposed fees saying that funds were needed for rehabilitating the houses. Mr Thoya said the current fees were too low.

“For the last 10 years rental charges have not been reviewed, therefore it is necessary for the county to hike fees,” he said.

“Up to 80 per cent of the revenue will be used to repair houses ,” he said. But Muslim for Human Rights (Muhuri) project officer Peter Shambi opposed the proposed fees, saying houses were unfit for human occupation.

“It’s a disgrace for the county to propose raising rental fees whereas its houses are in a deplorable condition. The county should repair the buildings before raising rent,” he said.

Kenya Community Support Centre director Phyllis Muema also opposed the move.

“It would be unfair for the county to raise rental fees whereas tenants have been repairing the houses using their own money,” she said. “The county should first compensate tenants for repairing the houses over the years” she said.

Mvita estate tenant Abdulrahman Abdalla said his house had not been repaired for the last 30 years.