Rising demand pushes up rent in Nairobi suburbs

An estate in Kiserian on the outskirts of Nairobi. Photo/Jeff Angote 

By Xinhua

Rent on the outskirts of Nairobi has increased significantly, pushing away Kenyans seeking affordable housing.

The districts that were once a haven for Nairobi residents looking for inexpensive houses are slowly losing appeal to most lower-middle and low-income earners.

Many Nairobi residents prefer to live in these estates and pay fair rent , but commute longer distances to the city centre.

However, upsurge of population in the suburbs has led to rise in demand for houses and pushed up rent. The areas include Kitengela, Ongata Rongai, Ngong, Juja, Ruai, Kikuyu, Ruiru, Kiserian and Athi River.

A two-bedroom apartment in the estates is currently renting at between Sh18,000 and Sh30,000 monthly. This is a significant increase from the past two years, where the rent did not surpass Sh15,000.

“It no longer makes sense to live in the suburbs because of the high rent. Why live far away from the city centre and pay more rent than someone who is living in estates a few kilometers away?” posed Vincent Wawire.

The pharmacist has been living in Rongai ever since he started working in Nairobi four years ago. After graduating from a government medical college, Mr Wawire worked in western Kenya for one year before he secured a job in Nairobi.

“Rongai offered me the perfect place to live when I moved into the city. A friend helped me get a two-bedroom house then going for Sh11,500.”

Mr Wawire still lives in the same house, not because he wants to but he cannot afford to move.

“I am currently paying rent of Sh16,500, and this is among the cheapest. My attempts to change houses have been thwarted by high rent.”

Most two-bedroom apartments in the vast estate, especially the new ones, are currently let out at between Sh18,000 and Sh25,000.

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Last year, Mr Wawire was surprised when he was informed a two-bedroom house in a new flat were going for Sh25,000. His efforts to look for other houses in the neighbourhood did not yield much as the rent was equally beyond his reach.

David Mule, a supervisor at a manufacturing company in Industrial Area, Nairobi, faced similar predicament. The 37-year-old was staying in Kitengela, 30 kilometres from Nairobi, but high rent pushed him out of the estate.

“I was living in a two-bedroom house with my wife and three children, but the landlord increased rent this February from Sh15,000 to Sh17,500.”

Not eager to move out of the estate, Mule shopped for another house in the neighbourhood but things were not any different.

At all the flats he went, he was asked to pay rent higher than what he is currently paying. He was forced to move to Pipeline, in the east of the capital, to a two-bedroom house that was going for Sh12,000.

Real estate experts blame the rising rent on increased demand for houses in the estates and lust for higher yields by landlords.

“There is no justification for the rising rent, but landlords want higher returns on their properties at the expense of tenants. They can increase rent as they wish because there is no regulation,” said Antony Kuyo of Avent Properties, a real estate agency.

According to Mr Kuyo, over the years there has been an upsurge of population in the estates that has led to increased demand for houses.

“People have been flocking to places like Rongai and Kitengela because of cheaper rent, but I believe things have come full circle. Residential areas near the city centre are now cheaper than those estates.”

In a recent housing report HassConsult, a real estate firm, though notes that rent in Nairobi is rising faster.
 

In the last three months, rent for detached houses has risen by 2.3 per cent and for apartments 2.2 per cent.

The firm pins the trend to unaffordable mortgages that have locked out many people in the middle-income brackets from buying houses.