Property Econs

  Conducting a land search for a property you intend to buy is one of the most important steps in the land-buying process in Kenya . It is one of those steps you shouldn’t dare to skip anytime you want to acquire land in the country. Conducting a land search would help avoid getting conned or making a costly mistake when buying land. Nowadays, you can quickly conduct a land search online thanks to the Kenyan government's successful digitization of many services. Recently, land searches were being conducted using the E-Citizen platform. However, the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning seems to have moved the online land search to its Ardhisasa platform. Below are the steps to conducting an online land search on the new platform.   Step 1: Logging on to the Ardhisasa Platform The first step is to log on to the Ardhisasa platform. If you already have an account on the platform, you simply need to hit the login button, enter your ID number or Ardhisasa ID and password and c...

One thing that you should be keen on when buying land in Kenya is whether your preferred piece of land is subject to unpaid land rates. The reason it is important to confirm if there are unpaid land rates is that you cannot complete a land transfer before paying pending rates. Your funds may be stuck if you pay the seller all or some of the purchase price for a parcel if huge unpaid land rates halt the deal.  Some landowners in Kenya who are obligated to pay land rates have neglected to do so for a long time. This has led to huge amounts of unpaid rates. Doing land rates search early on during the land buying process can help you determine if to proceed with the deal or walk away.   What are Land Rates? Land rates are taxes imposed on pieces of land. In Kenya, the tax is payable to county governments. Thus, land rates for a particular parcel are paid to the county government where the plot is situated. Land rates are part of county governments’ tax revenue. Land rates ...