For many University of Malawi students, the start of a new semester no longer signals a return to lectures, but a renewed confrontation with an increasingly unaffordable housing market.
In Chikanda—once a modest residential neighbourhood and now a dense student enclave—rentals have surged at a pace that far exceeds inflation and students’ financial capacity, exposing deep structural weaknesses in Malawi’s student accommodation market.
“I moved into my room at K45 000 during my third year. Today I’m paying K75 000. The increment happens every semester,” says fourth-year student Leston Simumbo. “It compromises my budget for food and other essentials.”
Another student, who opted for anonymity, saw monthly rent rise from K75 000 to K120 000 within a year—a 60 percent jump that students say is unheard of in nearby suburbs such as Matawale.
In percentage terms, rentals in Chikanda have risen by 60 to 67 percent, more than double the 27.9 percent year-on-year inflation recorded by the National Statistical Office (NSO) in November 2025, underlining how student housing costs are outpacing broader price pressures in the economy.
Fourth-year student Memory Chikwakwa says rising rents have pushed many students into accommodation ill-suited for higher learning.
“The room is extremely small. I put my things under the bed just to create walking space. After paying rent, I have little left for food,” says Chikwakwa, who lives in a converted residential house now operating as a makeshift hostel.
Supply constraints distort pricing
The Students Representative Council (SRC) traces the pressure to a long-standing accommodation deficit that has widened alongside student enrolment.
University of Malawi director of students welfare Christopher Mkolongo says the institution currently enrols more than 10 000 students but offers only 1 200 on-campus bed spaces, pushing the majority into private hostels concentrated in Chikanda.
“The root cause is the shortage of hostels on campus,” Mkolongo says. “This allows landlords to charge prices they want because students have no option.”
On-campus benchmark highlights distortion
Unima director of student affairs Jonas Mwatsetedza says off-campus rentals are structurally more expensive than campus accommodation due to the absence of economies of scale.
“Most off-campus hostels are residential houses converted into student accommodation,” he explains. “If a landlord has to hire two guards to secure the premises and employ a caretaker, those costs are transferred to just six or eight students in that house. This makes it more expensive than the subsidised fees students pay on campus.”
Currently, students accommodated on campus pay K35 000 per month—less than half of what their off-campus counterparts pay in Chikanda, where monthly rents range between K75 000 and K120 000.
Landlords cite cost pressures
Landlords argue that rental increases are driven less by profiteering than by rising operational and construction costs.
“This house is my only pension,” says hostel owner Mary Chihana. “If I don’t increase the rent, inflation will finish me. It is not greed; it is survival.”
Businesperson Wellings Chaponda points to overwhelming demand. “I have a waiting list. If one student does not want the room, 10 others are calling me. The market sets the price,” he says, adding that rent reviews are written into tenancy agreements.
Construction costs amplify housing inflation
Data from the National Construction Industry Council (NCIC) and the National Statistical Office show that builders faced sharply higher cost pressures between January and March this year, with construction material prices increasing by an average of 31.2 percent.
NCIC says materials account for between 50 and 80 percent of total construction costs, meaning price fluctuations in cement, iron sheets, bricks and related inputs have an outsized impact on overall building costs.
“These movements directly affect construction,” NCIC spokesperson Lyford Gideon said in an earlier interview, noting that sustained increases make it more expensive to develop new housing stock, including student hostels.
Property manager and real estate practitioner Henry Kandoje says Chikanda’s rental instability reflects years of underinvestment and regulatory gaps.
“Student numbers have grown much faster than investment in accommodation,” he says. “Many units are informally built on unplanned land, leaving the rental market largely outside regulatory oversight.”
Kandoje also points to the absence of standardised tenancy contracts. “There are no clear rules on when rent is reviewed, by how much and with what notice. Landlords are largely at liberty to adjust rentals at will.”
Limited scope for price regulation
Gideon notes that Malawi’s open economic framework limits direct State intervention in private rental pricing, leaving students exposed to a market shaped by scarcity rather than affordability.
Scotland-based Malawian economist Velli Nyirongo argues that Chikanda has evolved into a student-driven rental economy where bargaining power lies almost entirely with landlords.
“With demand consistently exceeding supply, the shift from annual to semester-based rent increases reflects a market operating with minimal restraint,” he says. “Students often accept higher fees or substandard conditions out of necessity.”
Nyirongo adds that the effects go beyond finances. Overcrowding, unreliable utilities and safety concerns undermine students’ well-being, while some are forced into exploitative coping mechanisms or informal work that erodes academic focus.
Policy incentives and stalled expansion
To stimulate private investment, government introduced fiscal incentives. In the 2024–25 National Budget Statement, former Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Simplex Chithyola-Banda announced waivers on import duty and excise tax on building materials, furniture and fittings used specifically for the construction of student hostels at tertiary institutions.
Mwatsetedza says some investors have responded, though progress remains limited. One private investor, who declined to be named, confirmd constructing a student hostel near the campus.
The International Finance Corporation has also announced plans to support the Government of Malawi in attracting private sector investment for purpose-built student accommodation at public universities through a competitive Public–Private Partnership model.
Unima previously entered into a Public–Private Partnership to construct hostels, but the deal collapsed in 2020. Designs for new facilities have since been completed, with funding still outstanding.
A crisis beyond shelter
As rental costs absorb money meant for food, stationery and research, officials say academic performance often deteriorates following mid-semester rent hikes. Students also report poor service delivery despite rising fees, including intermittent water supply and electrical faults.
Chikanda’s experience reflects a broader economic reality: in the absence of coordinated investment, regulation and financing, student housing has become a pressure point where inflation, market failure, and institutional constraints collide.
For thousands of students, the pursuit of higher education begins not in lecture halls, but in the struggle to secure a room they can afford.
(Additional reporting by Eric Mtemang’ombe, Senior News Analyst)
