Buruburu was built for middle-income populations during the 1970s and 1980s and inhabited by Kenyan business people, government officials, professionals and a few expatriates on short-term assignments.
Prior to the establishment of the estate, the post-colonial government had built rental housings that predominantly attracted high-income groups.
Buruburu estate was established to abandon rental housing policy in favor of home ownership through tenant purchase and mortgage programs.
The origins of Buruburu estate can be traced back to the 1962 Regional Commission which advocated the eastward expansion of Nairobi for housing and development.
In the designing and planning of the Buruburu estate, the key institutional actors were Nairobi City Council (NCC); the Central Government; and, the British Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC).
[5] Since its completion, Buruburu has experienced massive constructions and extensions which mostly do not follow the guidelines and regulations prescribed in the site coverage and plot ratio criteria.