The big picture in new fight for Nairobi tenants
What you need to know:
- Pay TV and Internet services are among the new attractions property developers in Nairobi are offering their tenants.
- In its second quarter report released last week, real estate firm HassConsult noted that rent in Nairobi had risen by 2.7 per cent.
NAIROBI
Tall, slender and elegant is the best way to describe a new multi-storeyed residential building standing out of the rest in Umoja Estate, Nairobi, with its walls tiled from top to bottom.
But beyond the elegance, the owner of the building has installed free pay TV and WiFi (Internet) for tenants, making many middle-class families in the area ditch their previous flats for the new one, despite the rent being slightly higher.
The building was completed three months ago.
NEW ATTRACTIONS
Pay TV and Internet services are among the new attractions property developers in Nairobi are offering their tenants as competition for better yields heats up. Initially, the competition for tenants was on tilling the floors and installing wardrobes in bedrooms.
But with that having become basic, property developers have taken the game a notch higher as they mainly build high-rise houses, some up to seven floors.
The buildings being constructed in middle-income suburbs consist of two and three bedroom units that are a favourite with families.
“I shifted to this house because of the free WiFi and pay TV services,” says Mr Andrew Muli, who is living in the six-storey building located in Tena, Umoja.
It is about two months since Mr Muli relocated and the pharmaceutical worker says he is enjoying every moment of it in his two-bedroom flat.
“I am paying Sh25,000 for the house, which is Sh2,000 higher than what I used to pay in my previous house, about 200 metres away.”
He acknowledges that he was lured to the flat by its elegance, besides the pay TV and Internet services.
AUXILIARY SERVICES
Like many other tenants in the capital, what Mr Muli looks for in a house before he moves in includes security, water, tiled floors, wardrobes and auxiliary services like pay TV.
Mr Antony Kuyo, a real estate consultant in Nairobi, says gone are the days when all that tenants looked for was a roof over their heads. “People want to enjoy staying in their houses. And how else to do this than have the floors of their houses tiled and install pay TV and Internet services.”
In high-end areas of Nairobi, according to Mr Kuyo, tenants are demanding even more. “They will not rent a house if it does not have closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras for security.” Most of those demanding auxiliary services are young people, he says.
In its second quarter report released last week, real estate firm HassConsult noted that rent in Nairobi had risen by 2.7 per cent.
