• Mulinge says he has identified a house for half the rent with a similar amount of space. He intends to move into the house in September and was able to get a friend to share the house with and split the cost.
•“I don’t even know why I have been wasting my money all this time paying such high rent, while there are good apartments on that side. It’s nice to stay in the certain locations, but with these tough times… bora uhai,” he said.
Image: FILE
When looking for a place to live, what tops your list of factors to consider? Is it ease of access to schools, roads or supermarkets?
Perhaps the water situation is top on your list: Will you have to bear with dry taps for days on end or are there alternative arrangements – like a borehole - if the county fails?
Maybe your security and that of your household goods is your top priority – you don’t want to sleep with a tool of defence under your pillow every night because you never know when burglars will be visiting…. again.
While rent prices pay a huge role in many tenants’ choice, there is a group of Kenyans who look at the place they lay their heads to rest at the end of the day as being more about location than anything else.
Some will spend more than half of their monthly earnings on rent, just to be able to live in that ‘ideal location’, many times in the suburbs.
This group has champagne taste on a beer budget.
However, the coronavirus wreaked havoc and stretched this group’s already overstretched budgets and many are now having to do what they should have done a long time ago – move into cheaper accommodation.
UPWARDLY MOBILE
Jackson Mulinge*, 29, is a man who created a niche for himself in the entertainment industry.
“I had multiple gigs every weekend that were well paying and afforded me a good life, but after entertainment spots were closed, I was left high and dry. I ate into my savings and by June, it became clear I might not be able to continue paying rent for long,” he said.
Mulinge lives in Westlands and pays Sh80,000 rent for a two-bedroom house.
He said he tried negotiating his rent down with his landlord when cash stopped flowing after the government ordered clubs shut, but he would hear none of it.
“He (the landlord) said that he was also servicing a mortgage and could not afford to lower the rent. All he offered was to reduce the rent by Sh10,000 for May, which he said would then have to be paid in June and July in Sh5,000 tranches. So I paid Sh85,000 in June and July,” Mulinge says.
Rent deposit for several suburbs is usually two months worth of rent, which Mulinge says his landlord refused to accept as payment for the months of August and September as he gave notice to vacate the apartment this month.
“The landlord said the deposit will be used to fix any damage to the house, but I have taken care of it very well, and in any case, any repairs can’t cost Sh160,000. It’s frustrating, because that deposit money is what I wanted to use to pay as a deposit for an apartment I’ve found in Ruaka.”
Mulinge says he has identified a house for half the rent with a similar amount of space. He intends to move into the house in September and was able to get a friend to share the house with and split the cost.
“I don’t even know why I have been wasting my money all this time paying such high rent, while there are good apartments on that side. It’s nice to stay in the certain locations, but with these tough times… bora uhai,” he said.
Mulinge is one of several Kenyans who have decided to ditch suburbs for houses in satellite towns.
According to the Hass Consult second quarter property index released on August 13, overall rents recorded a marginal drop of just 0.3 per cent.
However, apartments recorded a 2.2 per cent growth in rents quarter on quarter.
Among suburbs, apartments in Parklands registered the highest rent price increase at 2.4 per cent quarter on quarter, while Donholm recorded the biggest drop at 4.8 per cent.
In the satellite towns, rents in for apartments in Mlolongo recorded the biggest drop of 2.6 per cent.
Apart from people like Mulinge who have opted to move into cheaper houses, there is a group of Kenyans who have decided to move back into houses they built, but abandoned, in satellite towns.
James and Mary Njoroge decided to move back into the house they built in Kitengela to avoid paying rent for a house they had been living in in Lavington.
“We had decided to leave the house we built in Kitengela and move to Nairobi because our children were suffering, having to wake up very early in the morning to make it to their schools in the city. We found it was unfair to subject our children to waking up at 5am and then sleeping very late. We therefore decided to rent out our home and move closer to their schools.”
However, with schools having been closed since March 15 after the first cases of coronavirus were reported in the country, it no longer makes sense for the Njoroges to stay in Lavington.
“The children have been home all this time and we keep dishing out rent, yet we don’t know when schools will reopen.”
The Njoroges therefore packed their belongings and moved back home this month.
They say they are also considering moving their children from one of the mid-tier private schools in Nairobi to cut expenses.
A survey by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) in May indicated 69 per cent of households were unable to pay rent as effects of Covid-19 take a toll on the economy.
The report showed that at least 43.2 per cent of the active labour force was not contributing to economic activities due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It also showed that about 21.5 per cent who usually pay rent on agreed date with landlord were unable to pay rent for April on time.
Approximately 59.8 per cent of those who usually paid rent on the agreed date were able to pay rent for the month of April on time.
A total of 15,840 people were interviewed with a 97 per cent response rate.
Samuel Maina, a landlord, has defended his fellow home owners’ decision not to reduce rent.
“Some landlords, myself included, are retirees and this is one of the few sources of income we depend on to survive. It is therefore unfair to ask us to reduce the rent, when we are all in Kenya trying to cope,” he said.
He said landlords who are able to reduce rents can do so, but also added that Kenyans should cut their coat according to their cloth.
“If you have lost your job or had a big salary cut and know you will be unable to pay rent, it is best to move to a cheaper house rather than asking your landlord to reduce rent or defer, yet you know you won’t be able to pay the accumulated amount when the time comes.”
With the Health ministry saying Kenya’s Covid-19 curve is not flattening, the majority of Kenyans have to find ways to cope with economic pressures.