A Kisumu based Non-governmental Organization (NGO) now wants the county government to form Kisumu County Rent Regulatory Authority.
Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, Grassroots Trust for Community Organization Coordinator Mr. Lawrence Apiyo explained that if formed, the authority will help in solving conflicts between landlords/ladies and tenants.
He said conflicts normally arise between landlords and their tenants due to issues such as abrupt increase of rent, defaulting in rent payment, lack of amenities such as toilets and locking of tenants’ houses in cases of failing to pay rent on time.
According to him, the authority will help to solve conflicts arising from such common cases.
“Currently, we have the National regulatory authority but it is not that effective due to heavy workload. For instance, members of the body can visit Kisumu twice per year. By the time they come, people have already been kicked out of houses due to lack of mechanisms to solve conflicts,” said Mr. Apiyo.
The NGO boss explained that Kisumu, just like any other town in Kenya is facing the challenge of low housing unit compared to the demand.
“In Kisumu, 5, 000 new houses need to be constructed every year. As we speak, slightly more than 500 housing units are being put up each year,” he stated.
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