Every month, Michael Ogillo parts with Sh40,000 in rent for a modest apartment in Nairobi, yet back home in Kisumu, he owns a functional home worth about Sh5 million.
To many Kenyans struggling to become homeowners, this may seem contradictory. Why would someone continue paying rent while already owning a house? But Michael says he chose to do so for survival and convenience.
“I have been working in Nairobi for close to 20 years, but my job keeps shifting me from one county to another. Commuting from Kisumu is impossible, and moving my family every few years would disrupt my children’s education,” he notes.
His wife and four children mostly live in Kisumu, where the children attend school, while he rents in Nairobi and only reunites with them during school holidays or occasional weekends.
“At first, I thought once I built my own house, I would stop paying rent completely. But life has changed. Owning a house does not automatically mean you stop renting,” he says.
His story shows the experiences of hundreds of Kenyans who own homes in rural areas, satellite towns, or peri-urban centres but still rent houses near their workplaces in major cities.
According to the 2023/24 Kenya Housing Survey released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics in early 2025, a significant number of Kenyans who own homes still choose to rent, primarily due to logistical, economic, and convenience factors.
According to the report, more than half (52.2 percent) of respondents who rent reported doing so because their own houses are located too far from their workplaces, and 41.3 percent of those surveyed stated they own homes in rural areas but live in urban centres for employment, forcing them to rent in town.
Despite overall national homeownership figures, the 2023/24 Real Estate Survey also highlights that the city is a primarily rental market, with 91 percent of Nairobi's households being tenants.
The trend reflects changing economic realities, rising transport costs, urban planning challenges, and shifting lifestyles among working Kenyans. For many, home ownership has become less about immediate occupation and more about long-term investment, retirement planning, or family security.
According to Rose Kananu, General Manager of the Kenya Property Developers Association, rising living expenses are increasingly shaping where and how people choose to live.
“The cost of living in Kenyan cities, especially Nairobi, is influencing housing decisions in a very big way,” she says.
She explains that for most households, the biggest monthly expenses are housing, transport, school fees, food, and taxes. At the same time, salaries are struggling to keep up with inflation and rising statutory deductions, leaving many workers financially strained.
For many, home ownership has become more about long-term investment, retirement planning, or family security.
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As a result, she says, some homeowners who bought houses in places such as Athi River, Syokimau, Ngong, Kitengela, or even rural counties are choosing to rent smaller homes closer to work during weekdays, only returning to their own homes occasionally.
“When they calculate the daily cost of fuel, traffic, public transport, and time lost commuting, it often becomes more practical and economical to rent near work,” says Kananu.
For many Nairobi workers, commuting has become one of the biggest financial and emotional burdens. Long traffic jams, rising fuel prices, matatu fare fluctuations, vehicle maintenance costs, and unreliable public transport have transformed daily travel into an exhausting experience.
Some workers leave home before dawn and return late at night, spending nearly five hours daily on the road. In such circumstances, many homeowners are choosing convenience over a long commute.
David Wanjala, Director of Merit Properties Ltd, says Kenya’s housing market is exposing a confusing contradiction.
“Jobs remain heavily concentrated in urban centres such as Nairobi while affordable homes are increasingly being developed on the outskirts and in peri-urban areas,” he says.
David Manali Wanjala, Director of Merit Properties Ltd.
Photo credit: Pool
This mismatch, he explains, forces many Kenyans into a double-cost lifestyle where they pay mortgages or maintain homes while simultaneously paying rent elsewhere.
“Some people buy homes as future retirement investments or family homes while continuing to rent where it makes economic sense,” he says.
The trend is particularly common among middle-income earners. Many buy homes in their rural counties because of emotional attachment and the desire to establish a permanent family base there, while others purchase affordable houses in satellite towns hoping to escape Nairobi’s high property prices, only to discover that transport costs eventually consume the savings.
For people whose jobs require daily physical presence, living close to work has become a necessity, rather than a luxury.
Ogillo, mentioned above, says his Nairobi lifestyle is expensive, but commuting from Kisumu is unrealistic.
“I cannot leave my job because that is what supports my family and pays school fees. At the same time, flying daily from Kisumu is impossible,” he says.
Apart from rent, he also pays utility bills, transport costs, security expenses, and maintenance fees for his Kisumu home.
“Sometimes I ask myself whether owning the house has really reduced my financial burden,” Ogillo admits.
Still, like many Kenyans, he values the emotional comfort that comes with having a place he can truly call home.
“At least I know I have somewhere to retire,” he says.
That emotional connection to home ownership continues driving many Kenyans to build or buy homes away from the cities where they work. For generations, owning land and building a permanent home has symbolised success, stability, dignity, and identity.
Even as lifestyles evolve and urban pressures intensify, that dream remains deeply rooted in Kenyan culture. However, Kenya’s changing urban realities are redefining what home ownership means.
Today, owning a home does not necessarily mean escaping rent, instead, many Kenyans are balancing paying mortgages and maintaining homes while also paying monthly rent closer to work.
Wanjala points out that housing development in many urban areas has expanded faster than supporting infrastructure.
“Weak integration between housing and transport systems, over-concentration of jobs in a few urban nodes, limited mass transit infrastructure, and uncontrolled urban sprawl are major challenges,” he says.
He adds that Kenya’s housing debate has focused heavily on the number of housing units built rather than on accessibility and quality of life.
“A home is only truly affordable if people can access jobs efficiently, transport costs remain manageable, social amenities are available, and commuting time does not negatively affect productivity or family life,” he says.
Indeed, urban living patterns are rapidly changing.
Areas previously considered low-income or less desirable, such as Uthiru, Riruta, Roysambu, Zimmerman, and Kahawa West, are increasingly attracting middle-income workers seeking affordable rentals closer to employment centres.
Kananu says developers are responding to this shift by improving the quality of housing in such areas.
“We are seeing the gradual transformation of some neighbourhoods into affordable middle-income residential zones offering better housing options,” she says.
The demand for smaller apartments, studio units, and bedsitters near workplaces has also increased significantly as workers prioritise convenience and shorter commuting times.
For some young professionals, renting near work allows them to save on transport, improve work-life balance, and reduce daily stress. Others prefer flexible living arrangements because of changing jobs and uncertain economic conditions.
Many Kenyans are balancing paying mortgages and paying monthly rent.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
Wanjala notes that Kenya’s labour market is increasingly informal and mobile, making renting more adaptable than permanent home occupation.
“People are changing jobs more frequently or working across different towns, therefore, renting gives them flexibility,” he says.
The trend is also linked to the rapid urbanisation taking place across Kenya. As more people move into cities in search of opportunities, pressure on housing, infrastructure, transport, water, and public services continues growing.
The government has also attempted to respond through affordable housing programmes, while private developers continue investing heavily in residential projects. However, experts say housing delivery alone cannot solve urban living challenges without proper planning and infrastructure integration.
“Housing development cannot continue reacting to urban growth after the fact,” she says.
She argues that planning must move ahead of migration patterns so that cities grow in a more organised and sustainable way.
This includes integrating housing with roads, schools, healthcare facilities, utilities, transport systems, shopping centres, and employment hubs.
Without proper coordination, experts warn that cities will continue experiencing congestion, long commuting hours, environmental pressure, and declining quality of life.
Wanjala says county governments also need stronger zoning enforcement and infrastructure coordination to prevent disconnected housing developments.
“Affordable housing policy cannot succeed alone without transport planning, job decentralisation, mixed-use developments, and efficient public transit systems,” he says.
He recommends investment in reliable commuter rail, bus rapid transit systems, and decentralised business districts to reduce pressure on Nairobi’s central business district.
Experts also believe there is an urgent need to expand affordable rental housing near employment centres. While home ownership remains an important aspiration, renting is increasingly becoming a practical long-term solution for many urban workers.
For some Kenyans, paying rent despite owning a home is no longer viewed as failure but as a survival strategy shaped by economic realities. Yet the emotional and financial burden remains heavy.
“You pay rent here, maintain another house there, pay school fees, buy fuel, and still try to save for the future. Sometimes it feels overwhelming,” he says.
Still, he remains hopeful that one day he will fully settle in his Kisumu home.
“I look at it as my retirement plan. Maybe when I stop working in Nairobi, I will finally enjoy the house properly,” he says.
