Mutungi, Willy Munyoki2016-03-252020-01-082016-03-252020-01-081975Mutungi, W. M. (1975) The rent acts and the housing problem in Kenya, Masters dissertation, University of Dar es Salaam. Available at http://41.86.178.3/internetserver3.1.2/detail.aspx?parentpriref=http://localhost:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/6187The dissertation traces historically the development of the Rent Acts into a permanent feature in the Kenyan Statute books. It gives the reasons for such development. The methodology adopted in the dissertation is an historical approach. Class formation and relations in colonial and post independence Kenya are discussed. Then they are related to the Legislation and the housing shortage. There have been many arguments which seek to explain the existence of the Acts. These are examined and demystified. Related to this discussion of the Acts is the housing shortage. Solutions have been advanced as means of dealing effectively with the housing shortage. Rightly, emphasis has been on the urban housing shortage. The two main solutions are examined: private construction of buildings and state construction of buildings. It is attempted to show that given the present system of the economy, private construction of buildings cannot be a solution. The sole consideration is the making of profits and the housing shortage guarantees profits. As for state expenditure in housing, a state which is not controlled by workers and peasants and whose existence solely causes the housing shortage, cannot put up with low-cost housing. It is argued, therefore, that the housing shortage cannot be divorced from the main problem of underdevelopment. Also highlighted in the dissertation are contradictions resulting from just one of the smaller ills of a capitalist system of economy: housing shortage. The contradictions are just one glaring example of the system's irrationality and impending doom.enRent controlTaxationLandlord and tenantKenyaRentThesis