The Housing Crisis Among Low Income Earners in Kenya

“When I came to Nairobi from the village, I had a belief that my life had taken a different direction. In the village everyone believes that the people in the city have all the money. However, when I came I could barely survive. The cost of living was too high. To manage, I had to move to a single room that had terrible living conditions. With this, I was able to survive and manage to send a few coins back home.”

Mary, just like many other Kenyans, cannot sit back and enjoy the luxury of a good house. According to the Kenya Bureau of statistics 56% of Kenyans earn an average salary of less than Ksh 14, 000 per month. This group of Kenyans can barely survive. They form the highest percentage of the people that live in informal settlements around the country.

Informal settlements house a huge percentage of the people who work and reside in urban areas. Kibera, the biggest slum in Kenya, houses approximately 2.5 million people. While Kibera Slums occupy just 6% of the land Nairobi, the population that lives there is approximately 60% of the population in Nairobi. With such high numbers, it is impossible for the low income earners, to have good housing.

A view of Kibera slums. ( photo by Purity M.)

A view of Kibera slums. ( photo by Purity M.)

“The majority of Nairobi residents are slum dwellers. The living conditions in the slum are very poor but the residents have to bear with them. For example, access to clean water and toilets is a major challenge to each of them. The people per kilometer are too many while there is only a maximum of three toilets.” Perminus Kariuki, a real estate analyst states.

“Due to the fact that the people are congested, the Nairobi Water Company has not been able to have a lot of water stations in these informal settlements. Moreover, the water in informal settlements is highly rationed. Most of the times, the residents buy water from water vendors.” Such conditions are not the best for anyone to live but they have to brave the situation.

The handing over ceremony of Kibera Soweto houses was on July 8, 2016. (Photo by, Purity M.)

A common slogan in the country ‘serikali saidia’ has all eyes always looking to the government for solutions. Having this in mind, the Government of Kenya in collaboration with UN-HABITAT initiated the Kenya Slum Upgrade Program in 2004. This program was aimed at improving the lives of people living in slums.

Though it is just a slum upgrade program, the gates of Canaan Estate are always manned. (Photo by, Purity M.)

"I was one of the beneficiaries of the houses built in Soweto,” Francisca narrates. “It was very hard for me to bring up my children in the slums. Every single day I was worried about my children but I did not have any other choice. This program came as an answer to my struggles.”

Francisca, a beneficiary of a one bedroom house in Canaan Estate.(Photo by, Purity M.)

Francisca, is one of the 822 beneficiaries of the Canaan Soweto housing program. The government keeps trying to offer solutions for the housing crisis in the country. Though not much can be seen, there has progress so far in solving the crisis.

The dream of owning a home

Henry, a kibera resident's, house. He lives there together with his family. (Photo by, Kwama Joy)

“I live up there,” Henry narrates. “I cannot afford a better house for me to live in. I am growing old and there isn’t I can do about my condition. When I came to Nairobi thirty years ago, I had the hope that my life would change for the better. But looking back, I have gained nothing. I do not have a place to live here in the city and in the village. I my old age I can only live in such a poor state.”

“In most tribes in the country, it is a shame for a man to die without a place they call their own. Many people go to urban areas seeking for greener pastures and hoping that one day they can own a permanent house. If at all they can’t get one in urban areas, then having one in the village can do.”

The dream of owning a home is one that keeps most Kenyans awake all night. The cost of building one is too high for the average Kenyan to afford. According to the Kenya Bureau of Statistics 74% of salaried Kenyans earn below Ksh 50,000. Most of the times, 40% of this amount goes to rent. This makes it harder for Kenyans to achieve their dreams of owning a home.

A photo of Highrise Estate along Mbagathi Way. (Photo by Kwama Joy)

“With the amount of salary I have been earning since I got employed, I have not saved enough for me to build a decent house,” John relates. “It is important for me to own a home but in my financial situation it seems impossible.”

It costs between Ksh 800,000 and 1.9 million to build an three bedroom house in Kenya. To most low income earners, this cost is way too much for them to afford, ”I can barely afford to feed my family. There are too many things that require my attention right now. Building a house, though it is one of my dreams, is not a priority for now. It is way too expensive for me.” Mercy is a street vendor who sells vegetables.

The story of Mercy is the story of millions of Kenyans who have resigned to fate. To them, there are things that are much more important to take care of at the moment as compared to building a house.

Victor Chege, a QS in Nairobi during the interview. (Photo by Purity M.)

Victor Chege, a Quantitative Surveyor, explains that the cost of building a house is quite high for the average Kenyan. “ We cannot ignore the fact that very many Kenyans cannot afford to pay the rent of the houses they live in. To them owning a house is just a good dream that they do not the courage to chase. However, new technology has kept changing and introducing new and cheaper ways for construction. The major problem is that the low income earners are the ones who have highly rejected the new building materials in the market.”

For most low income earners they are afraid trying new ways for the fear that their money might go down the drain. “It is very expensive to build a house. How can I then accept anything that is new in the market. A lot of these things are counterfeit and I might end up losing all my hard earned savings,” Mercy States.

However to QS Victor, this claims have no basis, “The fear that these people have should not be there. Polystyrene, for example, is one of the new building materials that have come into the market. Building a house with polystyrene cuts the cost of building by half. Having built with polystyrene, one is assure that the temperatures in the room will be steady all through. Kenyans need to welcome new technology more often and avoid the rumors out there.”

One bedroom houses complex in Canaan Estate. (Photo by, Purity M.)

The desire of having a good living environment and the dream of owning a house are part of the low income earner in Kenya. Though it all looks like a good dream which one has to wake up from eventually, there is still potential. With the right information and actions by everyone in the society, each of these dreams is achievable.