As a commercial tenant, you could lose millions of shillings despite paying rent should your landlord sue you for non-payment of other charges or for breaching other obligations contained in your lease agreement.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

This follows a ruling delivered by the Environment and Land Court in Malindi on September 22, 2026, where a tenant was ordered to pay Ksh21.9 million, including legal costs and interest, following a lease dispute.

In the petition filed in 2020, the landlord had accused the tenant of failing to pay water, electricity, sanitary, and other hidden charges required under the lease agreement.

During the hearing, the landlord told the court that they incurred Ksh1.6 million to restore utilities after the tenant failed to meet the required payments.

📌 What You Need to Know

The court was also informed that the tenant carried out several structural alterations to the premises without obtaining the landlord’s written consent.

Following the second accusation, the landlord sought Ksh20.2 million to restore the premises to their original condition and Ksh65,000 for a professional assessment of the restoration costs.

Although the tenant filed a defence denying the landlord’s claims, they did not present witnesses or documents in court to support their position or challenge the evidence presented by the landlord.

The court found that the landlord had proved the claim on a balance of probabilities, meaning her evidence showed that her account was more likely to be true than not.

The ruling comes as a wake-up call for many tenants who might believe that paying rent on time is enough to meet all their obligations under a lease agreement.

In Kenya, many tenants have already resorted to redesigning rented houses and commercial premises to suit their personal needs, business operations, or preferred appearance.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke