3.5 per cent of Kenyans could not pay rent in May - report

Kibera slums and Langata area in Nairobi's skyline photo taken (Photo: Jacob Otieno)

The second wave report on the socio-economic impact of Covid-19 on households reveals that more than a third of Kenyans were unable to pay their rent for the month of May.

31.6 per cent of households in Kenya paid rent in time in May while 30.9 per cent who usually pay rent on time were unable to pay rent citing reduced income as the main reason.

The survey which consisted of 14,616 respondents in the month of June, further reveals that businesses have been affected across board in the country.

Accord to the data, 0.7 per cent of rented households had received rent waivers from their landlords in the month of May while six per cent received a partial waiver.

61 per cent of those who were unable to pay rent in May argued that they owe it to the reduced income which affected different companies.

While 25.7 per cent said they were unable to pay rent due to temporary layoffs from their places of works and closure of businesses.

8.1 per cent of the respondents said that they were not able to pay rent due to delayed income and 3.5 per cent could not pay rent following permanent layoffs and closure of businesses.

The survey utilizes Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI) approach which ensures that the interviews are conducted through telephone and the responses captured in Tablets.

Data is then transmitted to a central server for data processing and analysis.