Hi! I’m Wamuyu. I built my first shipping container home in 2020 during the pandemic, and five years later, in 2025, I’m building my second.
The question I get asked all the time is:
“How much do shipping container homes in Kenya really cost?”
Or:
“Are shipping container homes actually cheaper than regular houses?”
Let’s get straight to the numbers.
TL;DR: A 2-bedroom shipping container home in Kenya can cost anywhere between KES 1.5 million (~USD 12,000) and KES 3 million (~USD 23,000 as of 2025).
What I Spent in 2020 (Adjusted for 2025)
- I spent KES 1.3M on fabrication alone in 2020 for a 320 sq. ft. build. That’s two 20-foot containers (each 8×20 feet).
That works out to about KES 4,000 per sq. ft. for fabrication in 2020. - Once you include roofing, drainage, foundation, and other external works, the total cost was KES 1.6M, or KES 5,000 per sq. ft. in 2020.
Adjusting for inflation, the 2025 equivalent is about KES 7,000 per sq. ft. - Groundworks, foundation, drainage, and roofing typically make up around 25% of your total build cost. (Check out the dashboard below for a breakdown if you need context.)
Below is a dashboard of my costs broken down by category.
2025 costs from builders
A quick online search from one of Kenya’s biggest shipping container home builders shows the following prices for JUST fabrication, as of 2025:
- 20 foot studio: KES 950,000 (translates to KES 5,900 per square foot)
- 2 bedroom (assuming 40 foot, I am not sure): starting at KES 1,700,000 (translates to KES 5,300 per square foot)
From these estimates, you’ll likely spend KES 5,000 to 7,000 per sq. ft. on fabrication alone, depending on your layout, fittings, and finishings.
So, are shipping container homes cheaper than regular stone houses in Kenya?
Not always.
A regular stone house in Kenya costs you anywhere from KES 5,000 to 10,000 per square foot, according to several builders including this one and this one. So you can see, that shipping container homes CAN be cheaper, but actually generally cost about the same as regular stone houses in Kenya.
So why would anyone do a build a shipping container home if it is not necessarily cheaper than a regular stone house? There are other benefits to shipping container houses!
- ✅ Speed: You can build a studio or 2-bedroom home in under 8 weeks! My first took just under 3 months — and that included some delays on my end.
- ✅ Portability + Flexibility: Containers are modular, movable, and stackable. You can expand or relocate your home down the line.
- ✅ Eco-friendliness: You’re repurposing a structure that might otherwise pollute the environment
I hope this post gave you a realistic sense of the costs involved in building a shipping container home in Kenya — and how it stacks up against a traditional build.
👉 Coming soon: I’ll break down hidden costs and compare line-by-line expenses between container and stone house construction.
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