After living in a crammed apartment in Roysambu on the outskirts
of Nairobi for two years, Ms Esther Moraa, who was planning to settle
down and start a family with her fiancé, decided it was time to look for
a house where they could raise children.
At
the time, Ms Moraa was living in a one-bedroom rental apartment with a
living room, a balcony where she hung her laundry, a bedroom that
could not accommodate a bed that was bigger than a 4x6, a kitchen that
could accommodate only a small table, a refrigerator and two 50- litre
water storage containers.
Fortunately,
Ms Moraa got a promotion at work, so with their joint incomes, they
could afford a bigger apartment. They had in mind an apartment that
could accommodate a sofa set, an entertainment unit, a cooker in the
kitchen, a bigger bed and still leave enough leg room in these spaces.
But finding the right apartment turned out to be more difficult than
they expected.
DISSAPOINTING RESULTS
“Our
two-month search has really been disappointing since none of the units
we have visited within our budget in the areas we had in mind like
Roysambu, Kasarani and Ruaraka on Thika Road, and further away in
Utawala, Imara Daima, Langata, South B and South C has not yielded what
we expected,” she lamented. “In many of the flats, the living room was
not too small but the other rooms were. Where we found the living room
spacious, it was at the expense of the kitchen and/or the bedrooms. Many
of the houses also had shared bathrooms and toilets, which were also
too small.”
Ms Moraa’s problem is
not unique. In fact, many people who are looking for decent but
affordable accommodation are unlikely to find any easily. This is
because most landlords in the areas where accommodation is affordable
are obsessed with maximising on space, so the apartments they build tend
to be really small, and with shared bathrooms and toilets.
Although
he knows the dangers of living in such an environment, Simon Okoth has
no choice because he cannot afford anything better.
“For
those living in low-income estates like us, the clutter of high-rise
buildings presents not just crammed rooms, but also a health hazard
because many are damp and dark, with poor quality indoor air,” he says .
“It is common here to find lights on during the day because the
building is dark right from the entrance, along the staircase and
walkways, and into the house. Each floor of the six-storey building has
six houses - three to the left and three to the right. The staircase is
so narrow that when people are moving in or out of an apartment, some
of their big furniture has to be brought in or taken out through the
balcony.”
This building trend is one architect Francis Gichuhi can’t understand.
“It
doesn’t make economic sense to construct small and many but
uninhabitable units in order to maximise on returns,” he says. “In any
case, these are the buildings that tenants keep moving out of, mostly
because of illnesses occasioned by poor ventilation and moist
conditions, especially in children.”
He
notes that the cost of lighting shared spaces such as corridors and
staircases as well as the houses during the day becomes an added expense
for both the landlord and tenants. This contributes to unexpected
costs that end up reducing the landlord’s expected rental income. Such
poor conditions also result in tenants asking for a reduction in rent,
or the landlord opting to reduce the rent to attract new tenants as the
old ones keep moving out.
DESIGNED WITH RIGHT CLIENTELE IN MIND
There
are laws that govern the minimum dimensions for habitable rooms in
residential buildings, classrooms, warehouses, etc., under the Building
Code and subsequent by-laws passed by county assemblies through members
of county assemblies (MCAs). However, some developers circumvent the
county planning department vetting in a bid to “use space by building
more units”, says Mr Gichuhi.
He
believes developers should ensure that their buildings are designed with
the right clientele in mind, be they low-, middle- or high income.
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