How much does it cost to build a one bedroom apartment in Kenya?

Generally speaking, for one to answer this question of how much does it cost to build a one bedroom apartment in Kenya, you need to understand the location where the apartment will be situated and classify it. In real estate, areas or locations are classified as high income earners, middle income earners and low income areas earners.

Every city, town or county will have areas occupied by high income earners, middle income earners and low income earners. For example, in Nairobi, high income earners areas include hurlingham, Kileleshwa, etc while Kisumu you can talk of Milimani.

Middle income earners in Nairobi will include Umoja, Kitengela, Ngong, Kikuyu, etc while in Kisumu, you can talk of Polyview, Tom Mboya, Kenya re, Lolwe, etc.

Low income earners in Nairobi will include Kayole, Ruai or for Kisumu you will talk of Manyatta. So you need to identify your area well to understand what type of people will occupy your apartment and their expectation.

Secondly, to address the question of how much does it cost to build a one bedroom apartment in Kenya, you need to understand the expected sizes of the units for different class. High income earners area requires more spacious spacing. The cost of construction per square metre is estimated at a minimum of Ksh.50, 000. The minimum size of a two bedroom is 100 m2.

Middle income earners areas will not require a lot of space like high income earners. A one bedroom apartment in Kenya will require a minimum area of 60m2 while a one bedroom apartment in Kenya will require a minimum area of 35m2. The construction cost per unit in this area is approximately Ksh.35, 000 per square metre.

Low income earners areas will require a room or double room. A double room size will in most cases be around 25m2. The construction cost per unit in this area is approximately Ksh.25, 000 per square metre.

So with this information in mind, how much does it cost to build a one bedroom apartment in Kenya? Without going into material schedule, you can estimate the cost of unit of an apartment and then determine the cost of the apartment by simply multiplying the cost of a single unit by the number of units in the said apartment. Take a look at this example;

Suppose you want to build apartment comprising of 10 units of two bedrooms in a high income area, what is your projected construction cost?

In high income earners area, the minimum size of a two bedroom is 100m2 and the cost of 1 square metre is Ksh.50, 000. So the cost of constructing a two bedroom unit will be approximately Ksh5M. Therefore, to construct a 10 units two bedrooms apartment in high income earners area will approximately cost you Ksh.50M.

In middle income earners area, the minimum size of a two bedroom is 60m2 and the cost of 1 square metre is Ksh.35, 000. So the cost of constructing a two bedroom unit will be approximately Ksh2.1M. Therefore, to construct a 10 units two bedrooms apartment in middle income earners area will approximately cost you Ksh.21M.

In low income earners area, the minimum size of a one bedroom is 35m2 and the cost of 1 square metre is Ksh.25, 000. So the cost of constructing a one bedroom unit will be approximately Ksh0.875M. Therefore, to construct a 10 units’ one bedroom apartment in middle income earners area will approximately cost you Ksh.8.75M.

This should help you plan for you apartment project well. Finally, when it comes to apartment projects, there are certain professional fees which you must be prepared for. These include;

Professional fees are constant and are set by the Kenyan Laws.

Chapter 525 of the laws of Kenya guide Architectural and Quantity Surveying Services.

Chapter 530 of the Laws of Kenya guide Structural, Civil, Mechanical and Electrical services.

Architectural fees are charged at 6% of the total cost of construction.

Quantity Surveying fees are at 3% of the total cost of construction.

Engineering fees vary between 1.5% to 3% depending on the complexity of involvement.

The construction cost estimates include labor, materials and professional fees.

The actual cost of construction is derived from the actual agreement that the land owner has with a building contractor. This amount varies from contractor to contractor depending on several factors.

Example

6 units on 0.5 acre plot in Umoja, Nairobi county.

The best target for this region is the Middle income earning class.

Therefore, the 6 units will cost 6 units x 60m2 x KES 35,000=KES 12,600,000.00.

The Architectural fees for full service from design until construction supervision to completion will be 6% x KES 12,600,000=KES 756,000.