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How to Legally Acquire Land in Kenya
There are various legal ways of acquiring Land in Kenya. Some of the recognized ways include: gifting, nomination, purchase, succession-inheritance, adverse possession, nomination, surrender and compulsory acquisition- which can only be in favor of the government.
In this Article we seek to address and guide you through the common procedure of acquiring land in Kenya. Here is the process:
- Exercising Due Diligence on the Property
The first step in the land purchase procedure is to choose a suitable piece of land to invest in. This will cover pricing as well as determining the land’s utility in relation to the purchase price and, ultimately, the acquisition’s purpose.
- Apply in-person
This is done at the ministry of lands and physical planning headquarters or in any of their Land Offices in local district/ Sub County. One is required to pay a fee of Ksh 500 for the search; submit a duly filled search application (form RL 26) and attach the copy title document. The land search at Lands office takes an average of 3 days.
After the search one is issued with a stamped Certificate of Official search (form RL 27) showing the status of the land.
- Apply on-line
The process of applying On-line is as follows:
- Log onto the e-citizen portal E-Citizen and sign up
- Click on Ministry of Land, Housing & Urban Development link and choose the land search option
- Enter the title number and fill the online land search form Kenya and submit
- Confirm the details and proceed to pay using the available payment method which can be a debit card, credit card, M-Pesa, or bank transfers. One is required to pay a fee of Ksh 500 for the search
- Once the payment is confirmed, the applicant can proceed to print the results, and if you choose not to, the information will always be available on the portal anytime you log in.
- Contracting.
The purchaser should seek a letter of offer as well as the Agreement for Sale from the vendor after doing the search and receiving good findings. The Vendors Advocate will create these agreements, which will set forth the details of the Sale and Purchase. Both parties are urged to take part in the negotiations of terms such as payment and transaction completion time.
- Purchase of Completion Documents and Payment of the Purchase Price Balance (Pre-completion).
After execution of the Agreement for Sale the Vendor has the responsibility of ensuring that all the documents needed for the successful registration of the transfer of title in favor of the purchaser are available.
- Registration and post registration search.
The steps are as follows
- Apply, pay and obtain rates clearance certificate from the County Government.
- Apply and Obtain Land Rent Clearance Certificate from the Commissioner of Lands
- Apply and Obtain Consent to transfer from commissioner of Lands.
- File the transfer instrument at the Lands Office for assessment of stamp duty payable on the transfer.
- Obtain valuation for stamp duty
- Obtain valuation of the property by Government evaluator – The inspector visits the site to evaluate and verify the indicated purchase price of the property in order to ensure accurate tax payment. If the assessed value differs from the one indicated by the parties, an additional payment is requested.
- Stamp duty payment.
- Endorsement of value for Stamp Duty and assessment of Stamp Duty – Complete the Stamp Duty from including the purchase price. The stamp duty assessment officer will then assess the stamp duty payable and indicate the amount on the forms. This takes three days.
- Land registration.
- Pay registration fees – A payment of Ksh 500 charged and one issued with a booking form to fill.
- Lodge the completion documents with Lands Office for registration of the transfer – The franked transfer documents are lodged for registration at the Lands Office. The vendor lawyer obtains these documents which include; original certificate of Title, Rates Clearance Certificate, Land Rent Clearance Certificate and the consent transfer. This process takes 12 days.
