In January 2025, the Kenyan National Bureau of Statistics released the Kenya Housing Survey 2023/24. The survey, conducted across all 47 counties in Kenya is a gold mine of data for anyone planning to invest in real estate.
The Kenyan rental market has grown steadily through the years, thanks to urbanization and population growth. If you’re planning to invest in rental housing, there are a lot of dynamics to take into consideration . From a location’s occupancy rates to the population of renters within an area.
Analyzing the potential annual rental yields and the most popular types of units is also critical . Most importantly, tenant preferences carry the day.
The Kenya Housing Survey
KNBS partnered with the State Department for Housing and Urban Development, the State Department for Labour and Skills Development, the Kenya Space Agency, the Directorate of Resource Survey and Remote Sensing and the Central Bank of Kenya to produce the survey.
The primary objective of the 2023/24 KHS was to provide up-to-date housing statistics to facilitate decision making in the housing sector. The data cuts across all the crucial factors that should influence an investor’s decisions concerning the rental market.
Factors influencing neighbourhood popularity
When it comes to factors influencing tenants’ choice of neighbourhood, affordability was the biggest consideration. 52% of tenants will choose a neighbourhood depending on their ability to afford units within that area.
Proximity to work was the second biggest influencing factors with 17.8% of Kenyan renters preferring to live close to their work stations.
This means, investors need to prioritise accessibility when investing in rentals. Locations close to major work stations or commercial areas are also in high demand. Proximity to amenities (both social and infrastructural) also ranked high with 8.9% of renters prioritizing this factor. Security is the fourth most important aspect at 7.2%.
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Other important issues affecting renters’ decisions include a units’ aesthetics (6.5%), serenity (2.1%) clean environment (1.9%), status. Proximity to friends and relatives was important to some Kenyans.
Most Preferred Unit Size
According to the Kenya Housing Survey, apartments are the most popular type of rentals. 56.3% of Kenyan renters preferring living in apartment units. Bungalows came in a distant second attracting 20.8% of renters. Standalone units with own compound were the third most popular type at 11.5%.
5.8% of renters showed preferrence for Swahili architectural designs where the house sits on its own compound but with shared facilities . Most probably those living in the coastal regions or counties where communal living is embraced. Maisonettes were attractive to 4.8% of renters while townhouses only attracted 0.3% of tenants.
33.9%
Two bedroom units are the most preferred unit size by 33.9% of Kenyan renters.
Kenya Housing Survey 2023/24, KNBS
The Kenya Housing survey also covered the popularity of different unit sizes. 33.9% preferred to live in two bedroom apartments. One bedroom units followed closely with 31.4% of tenants preferring them. Three bedroom units were the third most preferred type of units at 15.7% followed by studios at 7.0%.
Only 4.8% of renters were interested in units with more than three bedrooms. Single roomed units attracted just 2.8% of renters while double roomed units were attractive to 3.8% of tenants.
Occupancy Rates
The overall occupancy rates for rental properties across the country in Kenya was 88.8%. This means that on average, 88.8% of properties advertised to let or for rent across the country had tenants during the year when data was collected (2023). This is according to the Real Estate Report released around the same time by KNBS.
95.7%
Studio apartments recorded impressive rates at 95.7% occupancy in 2023.
~Real Estate Report by KNBS
One bedroom bungalows, two bedroom maisonettes, three bedroom townhouses and Swahili houses recorded the highest occupancy rates of 100% each. Studios and bedsitter apartments recorded 95.7% occupancy rates while single room apartments had 93.3% occupancy rates.
One bedroom apartment units also had relatively high occupancy rates at 91.8%, placing one bedrooms 0verall) in the lead. Student Housing single rooms recorded the lowest occupancy rates at 50% while three and two bedroom apartments had 89.5% and 88.8% occupancy rates respectively.
Overall, the Kenya Housing Survey is an insightful document for anyone planning to invest in long stay rentals in Kenya. To access the report, visit the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics website.
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