What Can a Landlord Charge a Tenant in Kenya?
For landlords, tenants and property managers. General information, not legal advice.
Direct answer: Kenya's Rent Restriction Act (Cap 296) says nothing at all about security deposits, no statutory cap on size, no mandated refund timeline. Deposit amount and refund terms come entirely from the tenancy agreement and market custom, commonly around one to two months' rent, refunded within roughly two to four weeks of move-out in practice, but none of that is a legal requirement. On rent itself, Cap 296 only limits increases for a narrow "controlled tenancy" category, standard rent not exceeding KSh 2,500 a month, which almost no real tenancy falls into today; everyone else negotiates rent freely under the lease.
What a Tenant Usually Pays on Top of Rent
Moving in usually costs more than the first month's rent. Alongside the rent itself, a tenant is commonly asked for a security deposit, and sometimes a separate utility deposit to cover an initial electricity or water connection. Some properties add a service charge for shared costs such as security, water or common-area maintenance. Each of these has a different purpose, and because Kenyan statute does not regulate most of them, the tenancy agreement is doing all the work of defining what is fair.
The Deposit: Governed by the Agreement, Not the Act
This is worth stating plainly, because it is easy to assume a law like Cap 296 covers deposits the way it covers some other landlord-tenant questions: it does not. Read in full, the Act is silent on security deposits, no provision sets a maximum amount, no provision sets a refund deadline, and this is true whether the tenancy is "controlled" or "uncontrolled" under the Act. Whatever a landlord asks for, and whatever a tenant agrees to, is a matter of contract between the two of them, not a statutory entitlement either side can point to.
What fills that gap in practice is market custom: a deposit of around one to two months' rent is common, sometimes with a separate, smaller utility deposit, and refund within roughly two to four weeks of the tenant handing back vacant possession is a typical expectation. Treat all of that as custom and convention, not law. A landlord is not legally capped at one month's deposit, and a tenant has no statutory right to a refund within any particular number of days, unless the tenancy agreement itself says so. The agreement is therefore the only real protection either side has, so it should spell out the deposit amount, what it covers, and exactly when it comes back, in writing, before money changes hands.
Rent Increases: a Real Statutory Limit, but Only for a Narrow Category
Cap 296 does regulate rent increases, but only for a "controlled tenancy": a dwelling house with a standard rent of not more than KSh 2,500 a month under Section 2(1)(c), a threshold fixed decades ago and never adjusted for inflation. For that narrow category, Section 11 allows a rent increase above the standard rent only through formal written notice, and only for two reasons: passing through a rates (property tax) increase, or recovering capital improvement expenditure, capped at 10 percent of that expenditure per year. There is no general "market rate" increase ground available under the Act for a controlled tenancy.
For an "uncontrolled" tenancy, meaning almost every real tenancy in Kenya today, none of that applies. Cap 296 simply does not reach these tenancies, so there is no statutory cap on a rent increase at all; it is governed entirely by the lease and whatever landlord and tenant negotiate at renewal. The contrast matters: controlled tenancies have real, specific statutory limits, but they are close to obsolete in practice because of the KSh 2,500 threshold, while everyone else is negotiating freely.
What Landlords Should Do
Put the deposit in the tenancy agreement, with its amount, its purpose, the kinds of deduction allowed and a refund timeline you are actually willing to commit to, since no statute will supply a default for you. Record the condition of the property at move-in, ideally with dated photos the tenant has also seen. At move-out, compare against that record, and if you deduct anything, give the tenant an itemised written list of each item and its cost. Ordinary wear and tear from everyday living, faded paint, a loosened hinge, is normally the landlord's cost, not the tenant's. Keep the deposit separate from rent in your own records; it is not rent income, and you may have to return it in full.
What Tenants Should Do
Get the deposit amount and the refund terms in writing before you pay, since there is no law to fall back on if the agreement is silent. Photograph the property on the day you move in, including any existing damage, and send the photos to the landlord so there is a dated record both sides have seen. Keep the receipt for every payment. At move-out, ask for a joint inspection and for any deduction to be itemised in writing. If a refund does not arrive within the timeline the agreement promised, follow up in writing and keep copies of everything.
Recording Deposits and Rent in Domby
Each tenant record in Domby has optional fields for the security deposit and any service charge, so the amounts agreed at the start sit on the tenant record rather than in a chat thread. Rent payments are recorded separately from these figures, so your rent history stays clean, and the tenant notes are a good place to write a short summary of the property condition at move-in.
What Domby does not do is hold the deposit or process the refund. That stays between you and the tenant, so keep your own receipt and photos as the record that actually matters.
FAQ
No. Kenya's Rent Restriction Act (Cap 296) does not mention security deposits at all, so there is no statutory maximum. The amount is whatever the tenancy agreement sets, commonly around one to two months' rent in practice, but that figure is market custom, not a legal requirement.
There is no legal deadline. Cap 296 does not address refund timing, so whatever the tenancy agreement promises is what applies; a common practice is refund within roughly two to four weeks of move-out, but write your own timeline into the agreement rather than assuming that applies automatically.
For an uncontrolled tenancy, meaning almost every real tenancy today, yes, within whatever the lease allows, since Cap 296's rent-increase limits only reach 'controlled tenancies' with a standard rent of not more than KSh 2,500 a month. For that narrow controlled category, Section 11 restricts increases to rates pass-throughs or capped capital-improvement recovery.
A dwelling house with a standard rent not exceeding KSh 2,500 a month, under Section 2(1)(c) of Cap 296. That threshold was set decades ago and never updated for inflation, so almost no real tenancy today qualifies; most tenancies are 'uncontrolled' and fall outside the Act's specific rent and notice rules.
Ordinary wear and tear, such as faded paint, is normally the landlord's cost to bear, not a valid deduction. Deductions should be for damage beyond normal wear and tear, or for unpaid rent or bills, and should be itemised in writing.
No. Domby records the deposit amount on the tenant record, but it does not hold or refund money. That stays directly between the landlord and the tenant.
Related guides
Related reading: how much notice a landlord must give in Kenya, and a tenant's rights in Kenya. See also the free Kenya tenancy agreement template, how rent increases work in Kenya, and the best rent collection methods in Kenya. Browse all landlord guides.
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