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. 2-bedroom A-frame cottage

KES 3,780,566

2 bed · 1 storey · 64.8 m² · score 100/100

To own over 30 years: KES 4,043,462

KES 262,896 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. 2-bedroom A-frame cottage
House	KES 2,487,726
Plot works (walls, gate, driveway, septic)	KES 1,292,840
Total	KES 3,780,566
With 10% contingency	KES 4,158,623
Repaints and replacements over 30 years	KES 262,896
Cost to own over 30 years	KES 4,043,462
Per m² of floor (house)	KES 38,391
Floor area	64.8 m²
Roofed footprint	64.8 m²
Bedrooms · storeys	2 · 1
Build programme	17 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. 2-bedroom A-frame cottage — KES 4,158,623

Stage	Cost	Weeks	Starts
Approvals, permits and setting up	KES 180,409	1	not paid for on these savings
Foundations to floor slab	KES 426,355	3	not paid for on these savings
Walling, frame and upper floors	KES 404,723	3	not paid for on these savings
Roof	KES 653,934	2	not paid for on these savings
Doors, windows and services	KES 562,760	2	not paid for on these savings
Finishes and fittings	KES 508,319	6	not paid for on these savings
External works	KES 1,422,124	alongside	not paid for on these savings
Total incl. 10% contingency	KES 4,158,623

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.