The government-backed Landlord and Tenant Bill of 2021 proposes to abolish the restriction, setting the stage for the tribunal to hear and determine cases whose rent limit will now be set by the Cabinet Secretary.
The Sh2,500 rent limit is less than the average rent paid for a single room, according to data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), locking most aggrieved tenants out of its sessions.
The restriction for a tribunal to hear disputes between landlords and tenants for rent that does not exceed Sh2,500 will be scrapped if Parliament adopts a proposed law that seeks to protect more tenants.
The government-backed Landlord and Tenant Bill of 2021 proposes to abolish the restriction, setting the stage for the tribunal to hear and determine cases whose rent limit will now be set by the Cabinet Secretary.
The Sh2,500 rent limit is less than the average rent paid for a single room, according to data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), locking most aggrieved tenants out of its sessions.
The latest KNBS data shows that the rent for a single room was Sh3,677.68 last month.
The push to scrap the rent limit comes at a time rent in the middle-income and high-end housing units have surged nearly three-fold from 2007 on growing demand and returns for property owners.
“Tribunal shall have power to— (a) determine, assess or vary the rent payable in respect of any premises and fix the date from which the rent is payable on the application of any person interested,” reads the Bill tabled by Majority leader Amos Kimunya.
The rent prices, however took a hit from the Covid-19 economic meltdown that saw tenants default on payments due to job losses and salary cuts and depressed returns from their businesses.
A majority of landlords also snubbed State calls to reduce rent for workers hit by the effects of the pandemic.
The tribunal will have powers to assess and determine on the basis of the going rent for comparable lettings taking into consideration the location, size, age and tenantable quality as the State seeks to control rents.
Landlords and tenants who fail to comply with rulings of the tribunal face a fine of Sh200,000 or one year in jail or both.
The move to widen the mandate of the tribunal is one of the State’s bids to protect tenants from landlords who have for years arbitrarily hiked rent prices.
Property owners will be barred from increasing rents beyond the annual average inflation rate for the preceding year.
They will, however be allowed to breach the average inflation rate in case of sharp increases in rates paid to counties and other State agencies or when they introduce an additional service to clients like security, garbage collection or home internet.
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