Elijah Ntongai, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, has more than three years of financial, business, and technology research and reporting expertise, providing insights into Kenyan and global trends.

The choice of a neighbourhood is a critical decision for tenants in Kenya, particularly the working class.

According to the recently published Kenya Housing Survey, there are main factors that influence the choice of locations such that even Kenyans who own their own home also rent out other residences.

According to the survey, Kenyan tenants ranked affordability and proximity to work as the two most important factors when choosing the location to rent their house.

The survey also revealed preferences for housing types and ownership locations. Flats and apartments emerged as the most preferred rental units at 56.3%, followed by bungalows at 20.8%.

In terms of room sizes, two-bedroom houses (33.9%) were the most popular, closely followed by one-bedroom units (31.4%).

For homeownership, Nairobi was the most preferred county (17.1%), followed by Kiambu (8.6%) and Nakuru (6.6%), reflecting the demand for housing in urban and peri-urban areas as well as proximity to the capital .

These findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to improve affordability, enhance access to basic amenities, and address security concerns.

Real estate developers, urban planners, and policymakers can leverage these findings to address housing needs and determine the best locations for housing developments.

In other news from the survey, the 2024 Kenya Housing Survey revealed that 55.5% of tenants prefer self-construction, while only 12.5% favour buying ready-built homes.

The survey highlighted that only 2.5% of homes were purchased as completed units, with most homes being constructed through one-off or incremental building projects.

Entrepreneur Mwenda Thuranira raised concern that the low adoption of affordable housing units could be associated with high prices, limited financing access, and the cultural preference for self-build housing models.

Source: TUKO.co.ke