Landlords in different Nairobi estates have explored different avenues to subject tenants to pay extra levies making house rentals expensive.
From June 2022, many apartments across the city began applying service charges to tenants depending on amenities offered by landlords.
Service charges covered cleaning, lighting, water, electricity, insurance, garbage collection, maintenance, repairs, management costs, and salaries of staff employed in the property.
According to a survey by the Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa, the service charges also covered elevator maintenance, sinking fund, gym, swimming pool and landscaping.
The survey noted that landlords explored the avenue due to the lack of regulations dictating the maximum amount imposed as service charges.
Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa indicated that Nairobi residents living in one-bedroom houses pay up to Ksh5,000 per month as a service charge.
Those living in two-bedroom houses pay Ksh6,500 while those in three-bedroomed houses pay Ksh8,000 as a service fee.
The report further indicated that service charges accounted for 13 per cent of monthly rent. So a person paying Ksh12,000 monthly for rent was forced to pay Ksh17,000 due to Ksh5,000 additional service charge.
In suburb estates such as Kilimani, where a two-bedroomed house was Ksh45,000, residents were forced to pay an extra Ksh6,500. That fee made the total amount spent on rent top Ksh51,500.
The amount varied in other estates such as Umoja, Buruburu, Pipeline, Ngara, Parklands, South B, South C, Langata, Madaraka and Embakasi.
Other estates which recorded rent increases include Starehe, Madaraka, Nairobi West, Kibera, Jamhuri, Adams Arcade , Highrise, and Ngumo.
The service charge was also applied to Nairobi satellite areas such as Syokimau, Athi River, Kitengela, Rironi, Limuru, Githurai, Kahawa West and Kinoo.
Despite the country having tenancy agreements, extra levies included in service charges are not regulated.
"The Kenya housing market lacks bodies or authorities to regulate service charges, and the determining of the rates is at the discretion of the developer or property manager.
"This has, over the years, exposed some tenants to property managers, who impose exorbitant rates for services that are sometimes not rendered," the Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa noted.
However, the survey established that most tenants were compelled to comply to avoid being denied basic services jeopardising their quality of life.
Failure to comply leads to tenancy termination and even eviction.
With the changing landscape in the real estate sector, landlords and property owners are compelled to introduce more amenities such as CCTV , WiFi and electric fences, further hiking the service charges.
