Can your landlord raise the rent whenever they want?
The Land Act, No. 6 of 2012, Rent Restriction Act · sources read 5 Oct 2026
Not freely. For homes under the Rent Restriction Act (standard rent of KSh 2,500 a month or less), the landlord can't charge more than the standard rent and can raise it only for higher rates (including water, light or conservancy charges) or for improvements, by written notice with a copy to the tribunal. For other homes, you pay the rent your lease sets.
- Deadline
- Apply for a refund within 2 years of the payment (or of the last payment).
- Where
- Rent Restriction Tribunal, Crescent House, Moktar Daddah Street, Nairobi (homes at KSh 2,500 a month or less)
Steps
- Check the increase notice: for a controlled home it must be in writing to you, with a copy delivered to the tribunal.
- Ask the Rent Restriction Tribunal to assess the standard rent of your home.
- If you paid rent the landlord wasn't allowed to charge, the tribunal can order a refund.
Watch out
- A signed agreement to pay more than the standard rent doesn't make the extra legal: the landlord still can't recover it.
- An increase for improvements is capped at 10% a year of what the landlord spent. Repairs and redecoration don't count.
- Demanding more than the allowed rent, or more than 2 months' rent in advance, is an offence: a fine of up to KSh 4,000, up to 6 months in jail, or both.
Who this covers
- Rent Restriction Act protections: tenants of homes with a standard rent of KSh 2,500 a month or less.
- All other tenants: under the Land Act you pay the rent set in your lease, at the times and in the way it says.
Official sources (2)
- Land Act (Cap. 280, No. 6 of 2012), version of 4 November 2025 new.kenyalaw.org · read 5 Oct 2026
- Rent Restriction Act (Cap. 296) new.kenyalaw.org · read 3 Oct 2026