An exploratory study of perceived financial and housing barriers to electricity access in rural Kitui County Kenya

Abstract Household finance and housing readiness may constrain electrification, yet perceptions of these mechanisms require separate examination from observed access. This exploratory study examines perceived electricity-access barriers among 380 respondents in rural Kitui County, Kenya. Four ten-item scores summarized agreement with statements about socioeconomic barriers, credit, expenditure and housing. Measurement assessment included internal consistency, principal components, permutation parallel analysis and heterotrait–monotrait correlation ratios. Ordinary least-squares regression used HC3 standard errors, categorical demographic adjustment and influence sensitivity analysis. Composite means ranged from 4.322 to 4.333; 5.3–6.6% of respondents attained the scale maximum. Parallel analysis retained one component within each score block and five across the combined 40-item instrument, indicating uncertainty about its joint measurement structure. The baseline model explained 37.0% of outcome-score variation. Credit-related agreement was positively associated with broad socioeconomic barrier agreement (B = .546; 95% CI [.259, .833]). The expenditure association was less conclusive after demographic adjustment, and the housing association was imprecise. Influence screening flagged 44 records, all retained in the primary analysis. These findings describe relationships among perceptions rather than causal effects on household electricity access. They suggest shared recognition of financial barriers while highlighting the need for independently measured access outcomes, stronger construct validation and careful assessment of influential observations in household energy research.