This article addresses the high level of commercialization of shelter and basic services in Nairobi, and its implication for slum upgrading in Kenya. The article is based on a review of published and grey literature, and on qualitative interviews with slum residents as well as with landlords, tenants and stakeholders in Nairobi’s multi-storey tenements. The Kenyan government’s conceptualization of slum upgrading inserts benefits into a highly distorted market, preventing a balanced realization of the internationally recognized elements of the right to housing, and raising fears of displacement among slum residents. An analysis of the wider tenement market confirms these fears, and suggests that ma