Residents of World Vision estate in Kisumu have accused landlords of increasing rent despite the sorry state of some of the houses.
Kisumu World Vision nyumba kumi initiative chairperson Ronald Ogada on Friday morning appealed to the landlords to conduct a healthy business to ensure that both parties receive the desired benefits.
Ogada said he had received various reports of harassment and unnecessary rent increment that wasn’t commensurate to the service tenants received.
He said landlords needed to know the tenants have rights and they could not be mistreated with impunity.
According to him, they need to communicate the increase in rent in a proper way and it should be commensurate to services they were offering.
"You can't afford to hike rent, yet security in your compounds is pathetic. Some of these houses are in a poor state; they lack fences and are not even gated," said Ogada.
Maren Ogango, a landlord in the area who was interviewed by this writer refuted the allegations claiming the tenants were avoiding their obligations.
"You cannot just increase the rent if you haven't considered many factors. Tenants should avoid cheap propaganda and see the facts as they are," he said.