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. 4-bedroom sand-and-stone house with DSQ

KES 9,162,361

4 bed · 2 storeys · 322.8 m² · score 100/100

To own over 30 years: KES 9,968,142

KES 805,781 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. 4-bedroom sand-and-stone house with DSQ
House	KES 7,801,001
Plot works (walls, gate, driveway, septic)	KES 1,361,360
Total	KES 9,162,361
With 10% contingency	KES 10,078,597
Repaints and replacements over 30 years	KES 805,781
Cost to own over 30 years	KES 9,968,142
Per m² of floor (house)	KES 24,167
Floor area	322.8 m²
Roofed footprint	210.6 m²
Bedrooms · storeys	4 · 2
Build programme	37 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. 4-bedroom sand-and-stone house with DSQ — KES 10,078,597

Stage	Cost	Weeks	Starts
Approvals, permits and setting up	KES 566,194	1	not paid for on these savings
Foundations to floor slab	KES 1,019,640	8	not paid for on these savings
Walling, frame and upper floors	KES 1,984,037	8	not paid for on these savings
Roof	KES 1,124,079	7	not paid for on these savings
Doors, windows and services	KES 1,715,120	2	not paid for on these savings
Finishes and fittings	KES 2,172,031	11	not paid for on these savings
External works	KES 1,497,496	alongside	not paid for on these savings
Total incl. 10% contingency	KES 10,078,597

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.