Compare and decide

Set two to four houses side by side at Nairobi rates, say what matters to you, and see which fits and how you could build it with the money you have. How this works

County

Budget (KES)

Cash in hand now (KES)

Can add each month (KES)

Bedrooms

Storeys

Your plot (m²)

Coverage allowed (%)

From your county planning office.

Contingency (%)

Your allowance for surprises.

Cost to own

Over

Discount rate (%)

0 adds costs up in today's prices.

Power and water (KES/month)

What matters most to you?

Lowest cost

Lowest cost to own

Most space

Best value per m²

Quickest to build

Fewest unknowns

Start again from my brief

The ranking

Best fit for what you said

1. 14-bedsitter block on an eighth acre

KES 12,701,163

14 bed · 3 storeys · 413.9 m² · score 100/100

To own over 30 years: KES 14,447,960

KES 1,746,797 in repaints and replacements, 3 parts with no figure yet. Year by year

Plans, 3D and bill · Remove

Try a variant

Side by side

	1. 14-bedsitter block on an eighth acre
House	KES 11,706,173
Plot works (walls, gate, driveway, septic)	KES 994,990
Total	KES 12,701,163
With 10% contingency	KES 13,971,279
Repaints and replacements over 30 years	KES 1,746,797
Cost to own over 30 years	KES 14,447,960
Per m² of floor (house)	KES 28,283
Floor area	413.9 m²
Roofed footprint	139.1 m²
Bedrooms · storeys	14 · 3
Build programme	45 weeks
Not priced yet	nothing

Building in stages

Enter the cash you have now and what you can add each month, above, to see when each stage can start and when the house is finished.

1. 14-bedsitter block on an eighth acre — KES 13,971,279

Stage	Cost	Weeks	Starts
Approvals, permits and setting up	KES 800,998	1	not paid for on these savings
Foundations to floor slab	KES 808,671	10	not paid for on these savings
Walling, frame and upper floors	KES 4,102,241	10	not paid for on these savings
Roof	KES 1,074,606	9	not paid for on these savings
Doors, windows and services	KES 3,290,562	2	not paid for on these savings
Finishes and fittings	KES 2,799,712	13	not paid for on these savings
External works	KES 1,094,489	alongside	not paid for on these savings
Total incl. 10% contingency	KES 13,971,279

Each stage starts once it is paid for in full, the way a fundi is paid and materials are ordered. External works is not on the build programme: timed here as running alongside. saving building

Add a house

Finish

Not in these figures. Budget for these separately:

Professional fees: architect, structural engineer and quantity surveyor (get quotes through JengaCost's marketplace).
The land, and its search, survey and transfer costs.
Water and power connection fees.
Furniture, curtains and appliances.

Figures are budget estimates from JengaCost's dated rate library adjusted to Nairobi, not quotations. The ranking is worked out from the priorities you set, not a judgement that one house is better. See questions and answers.