Some of these areas are over 60km away from the city centre, where residents work, but the lower rent, it seems, is worth the distance.
Initially, the migration away from residential areas was to areas on the outskirts of the capital such as Kikuyu, Kitengela, Mlolongo, Ruai, Ruaka, and Rongai, but as demand grew steadily, so did rent.
This has, therefore, necessitated movement farther away from the capital.
In some middle-income estates in the capital, a two-bedroom apartment goes for between Sh15,000 and Sh22,000, depending on the location of the estate. In more affluent areas, two-bedroom houses are renting for Sh30,000 a month.
When his rent became to high, government employee Peter Munyaka decided to move to Machakos, 64km south-east of Nairobi. Each day, Munyaka commutes to Nairobi, where he works as an accountant.
“I have been living in Machakos for the past one-and-a-half years. During this period, I have been comfortably commuting to the capital. I am used to it and the distance has become shorter,” recounts Munyaka.
Before he moved to Machakos, he was living in Lang’ata.
“I was living in a two-bedroom house in Otiende with my family of four. Then, I was paying rent of Sh22,700, an increase from about Sh20,000,” he said.
When his landlord pushed the rent to Sh26,600, he decided to move.
“This was too much for me. I talked to a friend, who convinced me to move to Machakos town, where he was staying while working in Nairobi,” he said.
He told him that he could get a house bigger than the one he was living in for Sh14,500. Munyaka visited Machakos and before long, had made up his mind.
“I looked for a school for my children and packed my things and left. Life has never been better for me,” he says with a smile.
Each day, Munyaka lives Machakos at about 5.30am and arrives in the city centre at about 7.15am.
“Sometimes I arrive earlier than that when there is less traffic along Mombasa Road. Traffic is usually heavy as we approach Nyayo Stadium. That is where we spend almost the same time that we use from Machakos,” said Munyaka, who takes about an hour to reach Machakos town in the evening after leaving work.
Bernard Mbithi, who lives in Thika and commutes to Nairobi each day, believes that he is better off than most of his colleagues who live in the city.”
It takes me slightly over an hour to reach Thika town from Nairobi. My friends who live in Rongai and Umoja sometimes take longer because of heavy traffic jams on both Lang’ata and Jogoo roads.
This means that am better off,” says Mbithi, who moved to Thika from South B estate.
In Thika, Mbithi lives in a three-bedroom house for which he pays Sh15,000. He adds that schools also tend to be cheaper.
HassConsult, a real estate firm, indicated in its most recent property report that rents rose in the last quarter of 2012 by 4.1 per cent.
“The biggest rises came at the top of the market, where rents for stand-alone properties rose by 5.2 per cent on the previous three months, making for a 17.2 per cent increase from January to December 2012,” said Sakina Hassanali, head of research and marketing at HassConsult during the release of the report this week.
The firm predicted that rents will rise further in many suburbs in Nairobi in the coming months.
This will force even more residents out as they search for cheaper housing outside the city centre. - Daily Nation
