Habitat survey finds nine in 10 Kenyans cut essentials to keep a roof overhead

Nearly nine in 10 Kenyan respondents have reduced spending on essential needs in order to meet housing costs, according to new research by Habitat for Humanity International released in Nairobi during World Habitat Day.

The survey, conducted between April and June 2026 across 22 countries, also found that approximately 55 per cent of Kenyan respondents worried that an unexpected financial emergency could threaten their ability to remain housed, illustrating the financial fragility that comes with housing costs.

For families already juggling rent, school fees, food and transport, the prospect of saving enough to buy a house is looking increasingly unrealistic, even as residential developments continue to expand across major urban centres and their outskirts. Kenya continues to face a housing supply gap, with demand for residential units exceeding the number of homes delivered annually.

The findings highlight a distinction between being able to pay for accommodation and being able to afford it sustainably: a household may consistently meet monthly rent or mortgage payments while struggling to maintain adequate spending on food, education or healthcare. The report notes that affordability therefore turns not simply on whether a family can secure accommodation, but on whether it can keep meeting housing costs without compromising other essentials.

The research adds that constructing additional houses does not automatically make them affordable, because a property's selling price must be weighed against household income, access to financing and the additional costs of ownership, which for prospective buyers can include deposits and legal fees.

The survey was released as Kenya's residential construction pipeline pushes further into areas outside Nairobi's traditional residential neighbourhoods, where land availability and property prices differ significantly from the established suburbs.