Building a house can be one of the most expensive ventures in Kenya because of the high pricing of construction materials and the cost of labour.
However, many homeowners are turning to new technology, enabling them build houses that have unconventional designs and materials.
From building iron sheet mansions to living in renovated buses, here are some of the houses Kenyans are building today to save on time and cost.
Mabati mansions
Homeowners are converting simple houses made from iron sheets into luxury mansions with reduced cost of production compared to brick and stone houses.
The cost of building using iron sheets varies depending on the size of the house, with a standard three-bedroom house going for Ksh550,000.
The final finish can cost between Ksh120,000 to Ksh300,000 depending on the desired design and manpower used.
The common designs have normal ceiling boards serving as the ceilings, mahogany or pine wood serving as the doors, and plain concrete, tile, or wood used for the floors.
For the kitchen, toilet, and bathrooms, using tiles on the walls and marble tops or installing a glass shower cubicle could give it the elevated look.
The bathrooms are equipped with glass shower cubicles, while the kitchen, toilet, and bath have tiled walls and marble countertops. The sizes and materials used for the windows and doors vary.
The delicate finishing done to the houses gives them the appearance of any ordinary stone house on the inside.
Container houses
As a more affordable option, shipping container homes are growing in popularity among Kenyans.
Shipping container homes are easy to modify by combining multiple containers to come up with desired designs.
One can also combine multiple containers to create a larger home with a living room, dinning room, extra bedrooms, a second floor, or even a container guesthouse.
They can be built quickly. A shipping container home can be constructed in less than a month according to Masterclass.
“However, paying a specialist to construct your container dream home can be more expensive,” Masterclass noted.
In designing the house, one may choose to heatproof the house walls to minimize thermal heat from the sheets.
Used containers can be purchased for as low as Ksh500,000 while some are sold t Ksh800,000.
Sammy Nyiri, is one such home owner, who took advantage of shipping containers, a building Ksh3 million house from shipping containers he obtained at an auction.
'Building the container was by chance because I had gone to an auction," Nyiri stated.
Bus houses
Renovated buses are increasingly being used in Kenya as houses and restaurants, with many opting to use them for vacations or leasing when they travel.
One such house is the brandy bus cottage in Nairobi, Kenya. A double-decker bus converted into a two-story tiny home that can accommodate up to six people per night.
Known as the bus, is another bus house located in Naivasha. The bus was made from an old matatu and accommodates two queen size beds and a sofa.
BBC journalist Ian Wafula explored the concept of building his house on top of a truck.
"I initially wanted to build a container home but later decided to get a truck and build around it instead," Wafula explained.
It is also fitted with a kitchen that contains basic necessities, a bathroom, and running water.
Another bus house in the bus stop cafe and bar, located along the Gilgil-Nyahururu road. The restaurant is fitted with wooden floors, seats, and tables and customers get to enjoy the view of nature.
Wooden houses
Most Kenyans steer clear of wooden homes because of their short lifespan, termite infestation, and inability to keep out the cold.
However, in the current digital age, wooden homes are becoming more common as new techniques mean they are warmer and last longer.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke on Wednesday, January 11, Arnania Ogutu a real estate expert explained that there were so many misconceptions about wooden houses, especially with respect to costs.
According to Ogutu, the houses that are thought to be too cheap and uncomfortable to live in can be designed into beautiful spaces with a few extra coins.
The real estate expert however noted that the cost of wooden houses was high given that the price of timber had gone up in many parts of the country.
This clarification was a response to a debate elicited after a digital media consultant Mboya Kevin shared an image of his wooden on Twitter, on Tuesday, January 10, that he stated cost him Ksh800,000.
Kenyans are also turning to building A-frame houses to save on cost.
"In most cases, an A-frame house will not have inner walls that partition the house as the houses are usually open space.”
"Constructing inner house walls can be costly and you can imagine the money one will save by doing away with the budget for burning bricks and cement for the inner walls," Arnania Ogutu, an architect based in Nairobi stated speaking to kenyans.co.ke.
