A visitor to Limuru is welcomed by the expansive lush green tea plantations going as far as the eye can see. These, together with the cool climate, will tell you that you are now in Limuru. Tea pickers can be seen spread across the farms, very busy and undaunted by the morning chilly weather. It is not unusual to see smoke coming out of the farm house chimney. It is standard  to have a fireplace in the farm houses due to the cold weather. The farmhouses are either occupied by the owner or rented out. The rent for this type of housing will range anywhere between Ksh. 180K and Ksh. 250K. This is still a bargain considering the size of the house, the compound and the very many amenities available within the farm.

While the above is affordable to the wealthy, there is however the middle income group. It is not clear whether it is by design or accident that most of the housing development in Limuru appears to have been targeted to this group. These are two bedroom apartments which are suitable for the young families, who are the majority. Fortunately, or unfortunately there is an oversupply of this type of accommodation. The rental for this housing is highly underpriced to the benefit of the tenants and the chagrin of the landlords. It is not unusual to find a two bedroom apartment fairly well finished but going for between 8K and 10K. A similar apartment in nearby Kikuyu town would be going for between 16K and 18K.

Another factor making cost of living in Limuru affordable is the cost of food. The local market is well supplied with food from the surrounding very fertile farms. A similar pattern repeats itself here. The several smallholder farmers who cannot afford to deliver their produce to Nairobi end up supplying  the local market and  kiosks. There are also several small scale dairy farmers with one or two milking cows. The volume of milk  they produce is very small and they end up selling to their neighbours.

From the above, it becomes clear that those who have relocated to Limuru have a reason to smile. A major issue that discourages relocation to Limuru is the cold weather.As indicated in the previous report,this can be mitigated by investing in a HEAT PUMP. For those who are not familiar with a HEAT PUMP, this is the air conditioner mostly seen in offices.The setting for it is reversed so that instead of cooling the house it does the reverse. It will then depend on how much heat you want in the house.The running cost of the HEAT PUMP is very affordable plus the comfort of setting the temperature you desire.