Cost calculator
Work out what your house will cost to build
Set the size, the finish and the county, tick the things your plot actually needs, and see the whole budget rather than just the pretty part of it. Free, no sign up, and nothing you type is sent anywhere.
Start from something similar
Optional. Sets a sensible size and finish, then change anything you like.
Floor area
All floors added together, measured inside the walls. A three bedroom bungalow is usually 110 to 140 m².
Storeys
Where you are building
Finish level
This moves the figure more than anything else on the page.
Everything else
The items people forget until the money has run out. The first four are ticked because nearly every build needs them.
Your estimate
KES 10.1M
Building KES 6,240,000 to KES 10,140,000, plus KES 2,056,000 of everything else.
KES 62,000 per m² · Nanyuki and Laikipia · Standard finish
Where the building cost goes
- Substructure and ground slabKES 1,209,000
- WallingKES 1,451,000
- Roof structure and coveringKES 1,048,000
- Joinery, doors and windowsKES 1,048,000
- FinishesKES 1,531,000
- Plumbing and electricalKES 967,000
- External worksKES 806,000
Everything else
- Architectural and structural drawingsKES 766,000
- County approval, survey and soil testKES 145,000
- Water storage and roof harvestingKES 180,000
- Septic tank and soakpit or biodigesterKES 320,000
- ContingencyKES 645,000
Rough materials to order
- Cement221 bags
- Machine cut stone3,120 pieces
- Sand85 tonnes
- Ballast52 tonnes
- Hardcore65 tonnes
- Reinforcement steel1,430 kg
- Roofing sheets176 m² of cover
These are indicative market ranges reviewed August 2026, not a quotation. Two identical houses can differ by millions because of the ground, the access and the finish. Nothing you type here leaves your phone or computer.
How this works
The starting point is a rate per square metre for the finish level you pick. That rate is then adjusted for the county, because a bag of cement standing on a plot in Isiolo has cost more to get there than the same bag in Nairobi, and adjusted again for the number of storeys, because a first floor needs a suspended slab and a staircase.
Everything you tick under "everything else" is added on top. That is the part most cost guides leave out, and it is the reason so many budgets in Kenya run out at roof level. Drawings, approval, water, waste and a boundary wall are not optional extras. They are the difference between a building and a house you can live in.
Figures are indicative market ranges reviewed August 2026. They are not a quotation, and a real figure needs a site visit. What they are good for is sanity checking a budget before you commit to land, and knowing whether a quote you have been given is anywhere near the market.
What the finish levels mean
- Basicabout KES 40,000 per m²
- A sound, simple house. Everything works, nothing is decorative.
- Machine cut stone walls, plastered and painted
- Box profile mabati roof on cypress
- Ceramic floor tiles in wet areas, screed elsewhere or basic tiles throughout
- Steel casement windows, flush doors
- Standard sanitary ware and surface or concealed conduit wiring
- Standardabout KES 62,000 per m²
- What most family homes around Nanyuki are actually built to.
- Stone walls with a better external finish
- Tile profile mabati or stone coated tiles
- Porcelain floor tiles, timber ceilings with lighting detail
- Aluminium windows, solid timber doors
- Fitted kitchen and wardrobes, solar water heating
- High endabout KES 100,000 per m²
- Where the house itself is the point, and the budget reflects that.
- Feature stone or rendered elevations, larger spans and glazing
- Timber or engineered floors, panelled and coffered ceilings
- Bespoke joinery throughout, stone or quartz worktops
- Underfloor or fireplace heating, landscaped external works
- Full solar and water systems designed in from the start
Where the money goes
On a normal house the split looks roughly like this. It moves a few points either way with the design, and the finishes line is the one you have most control over once building has started.
| Element | Share | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Substructure and ground slab | 15% | Excavation, foundations, hardcore, ground floor slab. Rises sharply on black cotton soil or a sloping plot. |
| Walling | 18% | Stone or block, mortar, lintels and ring beams. |
| Roof structure and covering | 13% | Timber, sheets or tiles, fascia, gutters. |
| Joinery, doors and windows | 13% | The part we make ourselves. |
| Finishes | 19% | Plaster, screed, tiles, ceilings, paint. The most elastic item on the list. |
| Plumbing and electrical | 12% | First fix, second fix, fittings, tanks and pumps. |
| External works | 10% | Paving, drainage, boundary, gate, landscaping. |
What this calculator does not include
- The land itself, and any legal or transfer costs
- Anything unusual in the ground. Rock, a high water table or deep black cotton soil all change the foundation, and only a soil test will tell you
- Retaining walls and terracing on a steep plot
- Finance costs if you are borrowing
- Price movement over a long programme. Steel and cement both move, and a two year build will not finish at the prices it started at
If you want a figure you can actually build to, the next step is a site visit. Talk to us and we will come and look at the plot.
Want a real figure for your plot?
Send us the location and the size of house you have in mind. We will visit, look at the ground and come back with an itemised figure you can hold us to.