A landlord in Nairobi’s east-lands area shocked his tenant after he decided to write off Ksh150,000 rent owed to him.
The tenant who had been living in the apartments for over 10 years lost his job at the beginning of 2020 owing to the pandemic.
The tenant had been paying Ksh30,00o rent per month, but found himself struggling to raise money for food, school fees and rent.
“I went for five months without paying a dime. The landlord was so gracious to me. I lost sleep thinking about the accruing rent… and at some point thought about fleeing the house at night,” Benjamin told Mwanahabri.co.ke.
The landlord after observing his tenant for months, seeing his children staying at home over school fees, and trooping to neighbours’ houses for breakfast, decided to invite Benjamin to his house for a talk.
I am worried
“Benjamin, you have been a good tenant, but now your rent arrears are growing at an alarming rate… I fear you may never be able to pay,” the landlord had said.
Adding: “I see your children playing at home when other kids are in school. I am sorry to say this, but it is clear you can hardly feed your family.”
“You need help, and you need to talk to people before you die of depression,” the landlord said.
An astounded Benjamin fixed his gaze onto the ceiling board of the magnificent house.
He felt a lamp travel from the bottom of his stomach, right through his throat. He felt like crying at that moment – but decided against it as it would make him look weak.
You are forgiven
“I will do my best Mr. Johnson, I just need some more time o get a job,” Benjamin said. The former Insurance Manager said.
Of course he knew the landlord was going to kick him out – anyway – that’s what most of them do here in Nairobi.
“I will give you six months to sort your problems. I have also decided to write off the Ksh180,000 rent arrears, which means you don’t owe us any money for rent,” Johnson had said.
Benjamin fell to his knees. He didn’t know whether to embrace Mr Johnson, worship him or just eat him.
“I have never seen such a human kind human being,” Benjamin told Mwanahabri.co.ke.
The good news is that Benjamin has just started a new job at a local bank as an IT officer. The salary is good, and he is hoping to organize himself better, save and face life.
Rent defaulters
These are tough times for most households wit the Nairobi County registering the highest number of rent defaults.
There are concerns of losses in the city’s already ailing real estate market.
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), landlords have been forced to renegotiate payment deals with tenants.
Data from a household survey released earlier in April 2020 – just as the Covid-19 pandemic struck – showed that 30 per cent of households were unable to pay their April rent on the agreed date.
15m million rent houses
“About 21.5 per cent of households who usually pay rent on the agreed date with the landlord were unable to pay rent for April on time,” stated the KNBS in the report. “Approximately 59.8 per cent of those who usually pay rent on the agreed date were able to pay rent for April on time.”
Nairobi accounts for the biggest concentration of rental units and the lowest percentage of homeowners. The 2019 census data showed that 1.3 million of the city’s 1.5 million households rent the houses they currently live in, while only 138,976 are homeowners.