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Rise Of Apartments In Kenya’s Capital Causes Housing Glut

Rise Of Apartments In Kenya’s Capital Causes Housing Glut

Written by Bedah Mengo | From Xinha via Shanghai Daily

The five-storey building in Tena on the east of Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, is tiled from top to bottom, giving it a classy look that should appeal to tenants.

However, despite being finished close to four months, the flat with 20 two-bedroom houses is yet to be fully occupied, with nearly half of the units remaining empty.

“Stylish houses for rent,” reads a huge banner hanging on the wall of the flat as it gives a phone number for potential tenants to call.

Next to it is another new five-storey block of apartments that faces a similar predicament. Despite its stylish look, it has only a few tenants though it was completed sometime in September last year.

Away from Tena, in Rongai about 30km away, newly built apartments face similar situation despite landlords offering incentives like free Wi-Fi services.

The scenario is replicated in many other suburbs across Nairobi as property developers face a tenant crisis. Rise in construction of apartments as landlords search for higher yields has led to housing glut in some estates in the capital.

In the last few years, developers have brought down bungalows and maisonettes to construct high-rise buildings that can host dozens of housing units.

The rapid construction of high-rise apartments, which was encouraged to enable the city deal with housing shortage as landlords get good returns, has seen suburbs littered with the houses.

However, this is now working against the property developers as tenants become scarce.

According to HassConsult, a real estate firm, apartments in Nairobi currently comprise of 42 percent of houses. Detached houses come second at 34.3 percent while semi-detached 24 percent. While in 2001, apartments took up a paltry 24 percent of the market, semi-detached houses 25 percent while detached 52 percent.

“It is increasingly becoming difficult to get tenants in several suburbs in the capital. Property developers have constructed beautiful houses but some remain empty months after they were completed,” Antony Kuyo, a real estate agent with Avent Properties in Nairobi, said Thursday.

Read more at Shanghai Daily