Tenants living in Kileleshwa are currently enjoying the upper hand in negotiations as landlords have been forced to lower rent due to low occupancy.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, a tenant residing in the area revealed that she was able to negotiate her rent down by Ksh20,000.
"I used to pay Ksh75,000 for my 2-bedroomed apartment but we came to an understanding with my landlord who agreed to bring it down to Ksh55,000,
"Last year, almost 50% of my neighbors moved out due to the pandemic and tough economic constraints that followed. With most of the houses vacant for months, I saw this as an opportunity to renegotiate," she explained.
BBC correspondent Ferdinand Omondi reported a similar story in which apartments in the area that were priced at Ksh80,000 per month are now going for Ksh65,000.
"If you are looking to move houses, exercise patience. You will be amazed at the deals you can find out here, especially in the current environment," he tweeted.
His message led to a flurry of similar stories involving landlords slashing rent by as much as Ksh30,000 in a bid to secure occupancy.
Around Kileleshwa as one makes their way towards Yaya Center, it is impossible not to notice a staggering number of vacant apartments.
Kenyans online went on to accuse landlords in the area of creating an illusion of occupancy by having curtains set up in empty apartments.
This is the second time rental rates in Nairobi's upmarket area have fallen in the last 2 years.
Knight Frank's Kenya Market Update 2019 showed that prices in the area fell by 1.8% in the first half of 2019.
"These factors have transformed the market in favor of buyers and tenants, which has been exacerbated by multinational continuing to downsize whilst there are fewer expatriates relocating to Kenya, impacting negatively on the niche market," reads an excerpt from the report.
Included in the report was a tenant's testimony in which she revealed that rent for a one-bedroomed apartment in Lavington had dropped from Ksh75,000 to Ksh55,000.
"We are experiencing tough economic times and what owners want to do is maintain their tenants, for instance, a one-bedroom now reduced from Ksh120,000 to Ksh105,000 whilst a three-bedroom in this area currently goes for Ksh125,000 from a high of Ksh140,000," she explained.
Notably, in October 2020, a landlord filed a suit seeking the annulment of the Landlord and Tenant Act and the Rent Restriction Act, which prevents landlords from increasing rent before approval by the rent tribunal.
His lawyers went on to argue that their client loses millions of shillings in potential rent as a result of the two laws that have prohibited him from raising rent in his business premises.
Earlier in 2020, the national government was under pressure to freeze rent payment at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
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