Landlords to give tenants a month to vacate if they fail to pay rent

Landlords will be required to give tenants just one month to vacate their premises in case of failure to pay rent, instead of three months, in proposals by MPs to the Landlord and Tenant Bill, 2021.

The National Assembly Transport, Public Works and Housing Committee, in a report tabled before the House, has reduced the period to one month, saying it was the middle ground agreed between landlords and tenants during public participation.

The original Bill sponsored by Majority Leader Amos Kimunya had proposed that landlords terminate tenancy if the tenant has defaulted on rent for three consecutive months.

If the proposal by the committee is adopted by the House, it means the landlord will have a right to evict a tenant who has failed to pay rent for just a month.

However, no landlords will seize a tenant’s property for default in the payment of rent, or for the breach of any other obligation of the tenant without legal process.

Evicting a tenant

In addition, the committee has maintained a proposal in the Bill, which bars a landlord or any agent or servant of a landlord from evicting a tenant without the authority of the rent tribunal.

The landlord is also barred from subjecting a tenant to any form of annoyance with the intention of inducing or compelling the tenant to vacate the premises or to pay directly or indirectly a higher rent for the premises.

Any landlord or agent found guilty of committing the offence is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding two months’ rent of the premises or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or both.

According to the Bill, a landlord will be entitled to terminate tenancy for any reason without reference to the rent tribunal upon the landlord giving notice of not less than 24 months in case of business premises and not less than 12 in case of a residential premises.

The committee has, however, proposed amendments seeking to reduce the period to three months for business premises and not less than two months for residential.

According to the proposal, a tenant who does not oppose increase of rent after receiving notice of an intended increase within 30 days of the notice will be deemed to have accepted the rent increase.

However, it is now good news to tenants as MPs are proposing that if they are leaving, then the landlords will be required to provide them with receipts of repairs done before deducting any amount from your deposit.

“A landlord shall provide a tenant with receipts for reasonable expenses incurred for repairing premises that the landlord proposes to deduct from any security deposit held,” reads the report.

The committee chairman, Mr David Pkosing, said the contents of the report reflects views collected from the Kenyans during public participation.

“Committees are conveyor belts of what the people say. What you see in that report is a collection of what people -- both tenants and landlords, told us during our public sessions,” Mr Pkosing said.

“The proposals contained in our report are a result of the compromise between landlords and tenants and as legislators, we make laws that benefit both,” Mr Pkosing added.

He pointed out that the proposals as contained in the report are not final, as the House has an opportunity to either adopt or reject them.

Registry of tenants

The committee has also maintained a proposal that seeks to compel landlords and property owners to keep a registry of tenants, containing personal details such as names, postal addresses, phone numbers and emails.

The original Bill states that if a tenant dies and there are no other people in the premises, the tenancy will be deemed to have been terminated 60 days after the death. However, MPs have proposed the duration to be reduced from 60 to 30 days.

The landlord is, however obligated to preserve the property of the tenant who has died, other than property that is unsafe or unhygienic.

According to the new proposals, a member of the tenant’s family, upon production of identification or legal documents proving the relationship to the deceased, will be allowed reasonable access to the rented premises for the purpose of removing the property,

Those staying in national or county government houses, however, may be exempted from some of the provisions of the Bill by a gazette notice published by the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Public Works.

The committee wants that before the Cabinet Secretary publishes any proposals regarding the occupancy of both houses, they must be approved by MPs.