Kenya has a housing deficit of over 2m homes, which increases by around 200,000 per annum. There are 50,000 new houses being constructed annually, but this fails to have a significant impact on demand. An estimated 61% of Kenya’s 55m residents live in slums, and over 90% of Kenya’s urban households are rental properties. Credit is mostly unavailable to the vast majority due to informal sources of income. However, in 2017 the Kenyan president announced affordable housing as one of their Big Four agendas, and the country now has it’s own state-driven Affordable Housing Program (Boma Yangu).

Reall’s most recent project in Kenya is Zima Homes, developed in partnership with BuildX Studio in Wangige, Nairobi. This , EDGE-certified pilot includes studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments. Zima Homes features climate-smart, gender-inclusive design, incorporating central courtyards, rooftop terraces, rainwater harvesting, and sustainable construction materials, with women benefitting directly via inclusion of social enterprise BuildHer.

The majority of Reall’s work in Kenya has taken place in partnership with the National Cooperative Housing Union (NACHU). Through this partnership, NACHU have constructed over 1,500 homes. NACHU has also successfully engaged with the national and regional governments, helping to shape the current housing policy to consider people on low incomes, and have been an active member in government task forces on land, housing and the built environment.

Reall has also worked some of the cheapest houses in Africa with both KKL on their modular housing initiative in Nairobi’s industrial Kwangware estate, and Pamoja Trust on slum upgrading and redevelopment projects. The first delivered 41 compact studios, each 18 m² with a bathroom and electricity with prices starting at $3,000. The second delivered 145 incremental homes with access to water, sanitation and electricity that cost less than USD $1400 each to construct.

Simultaneously, Reall is expanding research and programme development in Kenya. The Green Affordable Housing Finance (GAHF) initiative is an innovative financial model designed to unlock and scale green, climate‑resilient affordable housing in emerging markets. It will combine two instruments, an Enabling Environment Facility that provides technical assistance, and a Guarantee Facility that de‑risks both construction loans and end-user housing finance, allowing local banks to finance green homes for low-income and informally employed households, especially women-led families, with confidence. Additionally, in 2025 Reall were awarded Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funding for a gender-focused study in Kenya, documenting best practises and relate challenges for integrating gender into the housing value chain.

This work, spanning pilot developments like Zima Homes, cooperative housing, and finance and green-building innovation, demonstrates Reall’s inclusive approach to scaling affordable housing finance and climate-smart building across Kenya.