| dc.description.abstract | In Kenya housing remains a persistent problem,
especially in the low and middle income housing categories. In
trying to solve the housing problem, more emphasis has been on
how to provide sites and services to cater for the low income
categories; mortgage, and tenant purchase schemes for the,
middle income categories. What essentially is emphasized for
these two housing categories is home ownership. Rental-housing
as an alternative to owner-occupied has been neglected, and
supply is left to individuals who buy from developers single
units. The nature of rental housing market is that it allows
exploitation of tenants by the landlords; and this has often
prompted the legislators to control rents. Rent control as a
tool of the housing policy has been in existence since 1919.
It has been extended to cover more houses, but it has come
under criticisms. It merely protects those already housed and
cannot assist those who have no shelter at all. It has been
seen as the cause of the fall in the supply of rental housing ,
and as a tool for encouraging home ownership. Property values
are also affected. Rent control leads to a fall in prices of
rental housing, thereby discouraging investors.
The aim of this study is to find out whether rent
conditions affects the distribution of tenure and property values
in the
middle income housing. This is done by means of a case
study of Buru Buru - a typical middle income housing estate.
Primary and secondary data gathered is analysed mainly using
descriptive statistical techniques.
It is shown that middle income housing investors are
not profit motivated. Property ownership is influenced more by
non-economic factors than economic ones. Rent control is price
oriented and expected to influence the profitability of renting
or buying a house. However, acquired property is rented
irrespective of whether it earns some profit or not.
Controlling profit therefore does not affect the owner's
decision. Tenants are shown to be less perceptive to
Government policies and more controlled by free market forces.
Though aware of the operations of rent tribunals, they find the
process of solving their disputes through regulations time
wasting. They are more committed to the neighbourhood than the
dwellings they occupy. So they rather move to other dwelling
houses in case of a dispute. Existence or absence of rent
control in middle income housing will not affect the
participants' decisions.
It is recommended that rent control can be removed
from the middle income housing category on economic grounds.
However, this study recognizes the social-political need of
such regulations as the Rent Restriction Act; and in that case
the rent control scope could be narrowed; and its
administration could be decentralised to grass root level; to
reflect the neighbourhood effects in the determination of
standard rents. | en |
