Can’t pay, won’t pay. The Covid-19 rent crisis is here.

Severely affected by Covid-19, thousands of tenants whose jobs evaporated after the March outbreak of the Coronavirus in Kenya are not paying rent, and landlords – who are still demanding full payment – are now running out of patience, and money.

Janet Imani (not her real name), who lives in Lang’ata, is one such tenant. Ms Imani was sent on an unpaid leave by her employer, an aviation company, in March after the government closed the skies for flights as a means to slow down the spread of the virus.

With no income and savings, the mother of two has been unable pay her rent and the arrears for two months now stand at Sh64,000. Her July rent is due next week.

“I recently approached the landlord requesting for a rent cut but my appeal was declined. The agent now wants me to clear the arrears and vacate the house by July 1,” Ms Imani said.

James Ndege*, a 28-year-old journalist who was fired last week via SMS, has also not succeeded in convincing his landlord to lower his Sh17,000 a month rent on his one-bedroom flat on Kamiti Road. 

“The agent said the rent was due and he could not give me a discount – not even a cent.”

Martha Wambui, who has taken up retail space for subletting at a prime location in the Nairobi city centre, told CK that the covid-19 mitigation measures have forced some of her tenants to vacate space.

“Some renters have left, but even those operating are registering low business and are struggling to pay rent. We’re not evicting anyone but that does not mean that rent is not due. Thankfully the management is yet to put us on pressure to pay,” she said.

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According a survey released by Infotrak on June 21, nearly two thirds of renters in Kenya are struggling to pay their rent and have to choose between buying food and paying bills.

“The rent crisis facing most urban Kenyans is real with 63 per cent of Kenyans saying they are unable to pay their rent on time,” said the survey.

Some tenants, including proprietors of businesses that were closed because of the pandemic, have already received warnings from landlords, and many more are worried about meeting their rent obligations if the partial lockdown continues beyond July 6.

Although President Uhuru Kenyatta has been asking landlords to ‘put people before profit’ by slashing rents for their tenants, such pronouncements have no legal backing.

“Unless in your rental agreement there is a clause saying that in times of tragedies your rent shall remain suspended, (you) will be at the mercy of the landlord,” says Ephraim Murigo, the Secretary General of the Urban Tenants Association of Kenya.

Mr Murigo advises tenants to adjust accordingly depending on the available resources.

“If you were paying a monthly rent of Sh5,000 and the coronavirus scourge has reduced that figure, it is better to relocate to rental zones commensurate with what you can afford to pay.”

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However, HassConsult head of development consulting Sakina Hassanali, recently said that landlords are accommodating struggling tenants by offering reliefs and deferring payments.

Ms Hassanali told KTN News: “Landlords are doing as much as possible to be lenient; they know that replacing a tenant is not always the better option”.

“Others cases, especially in commercial properties are deferring payments,” she added.  

But as cases of Covid-19 increase, there are fears that the government may extend the partial lockdown for another 30 days or so. This, observers say, is likely to expose struggling renters to mass evictions and repossessions as equally struggling landlords run out of tolerance.

Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho, however, warns that while landlords are free to set terms of engagement with their tenants the government will not allow unlawful evictions.

“We have the laws guiding such engagements…We have the set procedure for pressing for rental yields. We also have the procedures that guide evictions for non-payments,” Dr Kibicho said, adding that tenants will also not be allowed to act outside of the law.

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