Why the built environment is slow to absorb job seekers

Amid an aggressive plan by the government to build houses, behind the curtain, job seekers in the built environment are getting a cold reception from a sector that is outwardly thriving.

They are unable to secure jobs despite completing their studies.

A report by the Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK) claims that absorption of professional services in the built environment stands at 20 per cent. Additionally, a survey by AAK shows that nine in every 10 graduates — both bachelor’s and diploma holders — are still out in the cold.

These revelations seem to contradict what the government has consistently stated: that the taxpayer-funded Affordable Housing Programme has facilitated hundreds of thousands of jobs. It was one of the anchors behind the 1.5 per cent levy deducted from Kenyans’ gross pay monthly.

Numbers as of November 2025, presented by President William Ruto, stood at 600,000.

These figures are, however, yet to be authenticated.

The plan is to have this figure reach one million in 2026, as the government looks to provide a similar number of housing units within five years.

Data from the Affordable Housing Board shows the programme has so far completed 3,171 units, which are occupied, with 128,028 under construction.

The report points out that alignment between graduate output and industry demand is significantly uneven.

“Built environment courses produce more graduates than the sector can absorb,” it says.

One of the reasons documented by AAK’s Status of the Built Environment Report 2025 is the unregulated nature of some courses, such as landscape architecture, offered in universities and colleges. Regulators do not recognise these courses, and neither does the industry, hence the joblessness.

The report notes that by November 2025, there were an estimated 2,585 degree graduates and 2,014 diploma holders who had completed their studies in universities and national polytechnics.

“Yet, the sector remains unable to absorb its annual output: a July 2025 AAK survey found that 90 per cent of 1,709 sampled graduates and diploma holders were unemployed, despite the fact that these skilled professionals are urgently needed, as the uptake of professional services in construction projects in Kenya remains low at just 20 per cent,” the report reads.

Of the surveyed job seekers, 718 (42 per cent) were technicians and 991 (58 per cent) were graduates. The majority of respondents (513) were from the engineering profession, followed by quantity surveying (268) and architecture (213).

The survey was also meant to inform the launch of an onboarding programme for 4,000 graduates and technicians overseen by the State Department for Housing and Urban Development.

The report blames the slow absorption of graduates on persistent regulatory gaps, particularly the absence of regulation for professions such as landscape architecture, construction project management, interior design, environmental design, and diploma-level technicians. This continues to weaken industry standards and employment outcomes.

“Graduates from these programmes enter the workforce without a clear registration pathway, leaving employers without competency benchmarks and reducing professional accountability,” the report says.

It adds that the absence of regulation also limits the professionalisation of emerging sectors in Kenya. While diploma holders, including technicians and licentiates, play a vital role in the built environment industry, they remain unregulated.

“This lack of formal recognition causes several challenges, such as limited career advancement, unclear professional paths, and inconsistent competency standards across the workforce,” the report says, adding that it also diminishes their visibility in workforce planning and professional representation, making it harder for the sector to fully utilise their skills in project execution, quality control, and supervision.

Further, bachelor’s programmes in Kenya’s built environment sector are said to exhibit significant fragmentation, with multiple titles used across different universities.

“For instance, in town planning disciplines, the existing titles include Bachelor of Arts (Planning), Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning, Bachelor of Urban Planning, and Bachelor of Arts in Spatial Planning, some of which are not consistently recognised by the Physical Planners Registration Board (PPRB), such as B.A. Spatial Planning offered by Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology,” the report says.

AAK says this lack of harmonisation creates confusion for graduates, employers, and regulators, complicates professional registration, and leads to uneven training standards across the country.

“There is also a noticeable overlap and duplication of programmes across universities, often involving minor rebranding, such as ‘Construction Management’ versus ‘Construction Engineering Management’,” says AAK in the report.

It states that coordination between universities and professional regulatory bodies, including the Board of Registration of Architects and Quantity Surveyors (Boraqs), Physical Planners Registration Board (PPRB), and Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK), remains weak.

This disconnect contributes to non-accredited programmes, graduates who cannot register professionally, and low transition rates from university to the workforce.

“This limits career progression, hinders international mobility, and affects the overall quality of the built environment due to a lack of standardised competencies and professional oversight,” it says.

According to the Budget Policy Statement 2026 by the National Treasury — which underpins the 2026/2027 budget — the Affordable Housing Programme has generated over 428,000 jobs, up from 17,744 in 2022 to 330,000 by 2025.

“Jobs span across technical and professional fields, including masons, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, architects, engineers, surveyors, and real estate specialists, as well as thousands of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) engaged in fittings, fabrication, and interior works,” reads the policy statement.