NHC estate tenants' household items seized for auctioning over rent arrears

NHC auction

Gallant Worldwide Auctioneers employees carrying away household items from a building at Sadi Road Estate in Nairobi's South B area on January 14, 2021 for auctioning by the National Housing Corporation over rent arrears by tenants.

Photo credit: Kanyiri Wahito | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • Residents of NHC's estate on Sadi road in South B, Nairobi awoken by auctioneers who were targeting 20 of the 72 houses.
  • The corporation said some of the tenants owe millions of shillings with some accumulating rent debt of Sh780,000. 

The National Housing Corporation (NHC) has started the process of auctioning household items belonging to some of its tenants with rent arrears. 

On Thursday, residents of one of the corporation’s estate located on Sadi road in South B, Nairobi, were awoken by auctioneers who went there targeting 20 of the 72 houses.

The corporation said some of the tenants owe millions of shillings with some accumulating rent debt of Sh780,000. 

NHC claims that some tenants have not paid rent for nearly four years.

NHC’s General Manager for estates John Agutu said that even though the corporation had provided a window period for tenants to approach it with payment plans and proposals for consideration, most of them did not come forward.

He said auctioneers had served the affected tenants with proclamation notices on December 15, 2020, and that by the end of last year none of them had paid or presented a payment plan for the rent arrears.

High service fees

“If any of those tenants, some of them owing us Sh700,000, come with a proposal that works for us then we will consider them,” Mr Agutu said.

Documents listing amounts owed by tenants to the corporation showed that the least amount was Sh140,000, while many have arrears of over half a million.

Tenants who spoke to the Nation refuted the corporation's claims that it had sent them demand letters seeking payment of the arrears. 

They also claimed that the corporation is charging them high service fees. 

“Before we used to pay water bills directly to Nairobi Water Company. But since NHC took over water payment, the bills went up,” said Ms Cynthia Nyande, a tenant.

But Mr Agutu defended the corporation saying it had solved the perennial water problem at the estate by constructing two water tanks. 

Even though the tenants claimed to have written to the corporation complaining of the water bills issue, Mr Agutu said he has never received any such letter.