Landlords in Kenya: A kindhearted landlord in Kinangop, Nyandarua County, has asked his tenants not to pay rent for two months.
The landlord known as Michael Munene waived the rent due to the economic hardships that have been brought by the coronavirus crisis. Mr. Munene owns both residential and commercial houses. He charges Sh. 3, 000 per unit for 28 residential allocations and Sh. 5, 000 per unit for his six commercial stores.
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The landlord gets Sh. 84,000 per month from the residential units, and Sh. 30,000 monthly from the commercial units. This means that in a month, he rakes in Sh. 114,000. This means that in the two months that Mr. Munene has waived rent for his tenants, he will forego Sh. 228,000.
Mr. Munene told Citizen Television on Saturday, March 21, that he has an agreement with the tenants that they should settle their house rent by the 7th day of every month.
“I however allow the ones who can’t settle the rent on deadline to do so by the 10th day of every new month,” he said. “Following the coronavirus outbreak, it is evident that the economy has taken a beating. Kenyans are struggling to raise money for survival. My tenants are usually very loyal, and most of them settle their rent on time.”
“I reflected on the current situation, and told myself: ‘Even if none [of my tenants] has ever absconded paying house rent, I understand that the coronavirus outbreak could make it difficult for some to raise the rent on time’. I wouldn’t want a situation where any of my tenants takes a loan to settle house rent,” said Munene.
Mr. Munene said he will consider waiving rent further for his tenants should the coronavirus pandemic reach crisis levels in the country. “I will assess the situation and see whether I can extend the mercy period,” he said. Landlords in Kenya.