Looking for a house in Kigali? You need more than just ability to pay the monthly rent

With its current population nearing the one million mark during the day and 800,000 during the night, Kigali city is increasingly becoming a hub of various business activities, while residential space for urban low income earners is no longer available. The busier it gets, the smaller the city has become. Bruno Rangira, the Director of Communication at Kigali City says the city council is currently in advanced stages of constructing housing units in Batsinda estate. “Early in March, we completed the construction of 250 houses; Batsinda alone will be composed of 1000 low cost houses for urban families to move in.” Before Rangira’s projects open and solve Kigali’s house searching problems, finding a decent low cost house in the capital city is increasingly becoming a nightmare for Kigali residents. Today, you need more than money to get a house to rent; it is possible that you will be denied a house even when you can meet the financial rent expectations of a prospective landlord. One particular landlord just opposite the national stadium will not entertain Rwandan tenants; he only wants foreigners (Abanyamahanga) to stay in his houses. If you are a Rwandan, the unnamed landlord will simply put the monthly rent at any figure that would make a mockery of the one in search of a house. Finding low cost houses in Kigali today has become as elusive as finding a job, even with an appropriate education qualification; you can walk the streets for years, not to forget the mockery of interviews. With the world wide increasing cost of living in agricultural produce, even land lords have caught on, as one David Hitimana said; “The prices of everything has increased, food is very expensive in the markets, why do you expect a house to be cheaper? Is food more important than a house?” he asked again. I met Jean-Baptiste outside my gate one day; he was just like any other stranger. When Jean Baptiste heard I was looking for a simple bachelor’s house to rent, he came close. What followed was a month-long partnership looking for a small urban condo that a low income earner like me could afford. Immediately JP mentioned seven prospective houses that I could occupy and he was well known to landlords. I was convinced by the fact the JP was on top of his game. When we set off to look at the houses, JP could only show me two houses and on both occasions we only stopped at a short distance away from the houses from where JP would go on about the beauty of the rooms inside and the neighbourhood. Whenever I asked to meet the landlords JP told me he had to talk to them first. I tried to get the phone of one landlord, but when he picked up the phone, the landlord denied having a house. That was the first day of our search. The next day I was supposed to meet JP early in the morning and he gave me his number. But the next day his phone was off the network the whole day. I kept calling till he picked up finally after 48 hours later; he took me to one landlord, Gerard. Gerard is the kind of person I would not advise anybody to meet. Apparently Gerard had a house but according to him; “It is very bad shape, I don’t want to rent it out in its current state, but after one month it will be on the market.” So can I give you my number you can call once renovations are complete? I ask him. Gerard said he would tender his house when it was completed, he would not explain the fact that he agreed to meet me when he fully knew that I was interested in renting his house and now he is saying he does not have one. I met another broker, who among his proclamations before he even knew my name was to ask for ‘Diporosoma’ of Frw 5000. Diporosoma is a specific amount of money that a person in need of a house pays to the house broker before the prospective tenant sees the house. Upon getting a house, the tenant is required to pay the broker the equivalent of a half month rent charge, say if the house a broker has identified for you is Frw200,000 per month, you pay the tenant Frw100,000. So Kigali has progressed in more ways than one, and gone the way of the rest of big cities. It is not only the cost of houses that is prohibitive; the way to getting accommodation is so straining that you just throw up your hands in exasperation, and take the next hovel that comes up whether it is literally uninhabitable or not. You complain when you are already inside! Ends