World Bank urges Kenya to relax Nairobi building height limits
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The World Bank has asked African governments to remove restrictions on building heights and floor-area ratios, arguing that Nairobi's rules push development outwards instead of using available land more intensively.
The World Bank has urged governments to remove restrictions on building heights and floor-area ratios in order to lift housing supply in major African cities, in a report that turns on Nairobi's development controls.
In its Sub-Saharan Africa's Urban Awakening report published on October 29, the lender said overly restrictive construction rules make cities such as Nairobi expand outwards rather than make better use of land already served by infrastructure. Relaxing the limits, particularly in areas earmarked for development, could increase housing supply and allow more residents to live closer to their workplaces.
The report said removing "excessively stringent building height limits and floor area ratios" that constrain vertical development of residential buildings by private developers, especially in locations targeted for integrated development, would ease a binding constraint on supply. The bank does not propose scrapping building rules altogether.
In Nairobi, the 2026 Development Control Policy sets zoning guidelines covering permitted land uses, building heights, plot coverage and plot ratios. It allows a maximum of 75 floors within the central business district and Upper Hill, and up to 20 floors in Ngara, Eastleigh, Pangani, areas along Thika Road, Valley Road and Milimani.
The policy has been challenged in court by some Nairobi residents, and the Supreme Court has yet to determine its legal effect. The World Bank's recommendation lands amid mounting concern over high-rise development in the capital, including congestion, inadequate drainage, poor sewerage and overstretched roads.
Under Kenya's Physical and Land Use Planning (Building) Regulations, 2021, developers must comply with approved plans and zoning requirements before construction begins, and any change to height or plot-ratio rules would run through county planning approvals.