Housing policy fails to translate into decent homes, report shows

This is the central finding of the State of Housing, Tenure and Basic Services Report 2026 by the Economic and Social Rights Centre (HakiJamii), which argues that Kenya’s housing challenge is increasingly a question of policy implementation and governance rather than construction alone.

Kenya’s expanding housing policy is failing to fully translate into decent homes for low-income families, with gaps in implementation, tenure security, basic services and accountability undermining the Government’s housing commitments.

He called for closer coordination between national and county governments, particularly given the constitutional division of responsibilities relating to housing and basic services.