Land ownership in Kenya goes beyond just buying land. You must have a title deed to become the legal owner of any land piece. Title deeds are issued by Kenya’s Ministry of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development. The details on the title deed are changed from those of the vendor to the purchaser to show the transfer of ownership. Below is a simple guide that outlines the types of title deeds in Kenya, how long the land transfer process takes, and the costs associated with title transfer.

Types of title deeds in Kenya

Certificate of Lease

A certificate of lease, alternatively known as a leasehold title, is the title given for leasehold property and is under the Registered Lands Act Cap 300 that was repealed. Leasehold denotes land tenure where the lessee holds rights to a piece of land as per the conditions imposed by the landowner. Leases can be 33, 50, 66, or 99 years as for government-leased urban plots.  

Sectional Title Deed

A sectional title deed proves the ownership of units within a building. A good example of when a sectional title deed is issued is when an individual buys an apartment or a flat

 Absolute Title Deed

This title is registered under Cap 300 of the Registered Lands Act for freehold land. An absolute title deed gives you, as the land owner, absolute period use and ownership of land. This means that once you have this type of title deed, the land is yours and with no further conditions of ownership.

Other types of titles include indenture and grant titles. However, these titles have been repealed and consolidated under the Land Registration Act of 2012. The aim of the consolidation was to reduce the confusion brought about by the different Land Acts that were in use previously.

Steps to Follow to Acquire a Title Deed

Do an Official Land Search

The land search process is crucial as you will discover if someone else owns the land and if the land has been registered before. A land search will also let you know whether the land has pending court cases or charges, such as the land being used to secure a loan from financial facilities.

You may also need to get a registry index map from the Survey of Kenya and hire a surveyor to ensure the ground measurements tally with those on the map. Apply in person at the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning and pay a fee of Ksh 500 to facilitate the search. You also need to submit a filled form RL 26 and a copy of the title and wait for at least three days for the search to be complete.

Obtain Land Transfer Documents

After the land search, you must contact a lawyer to help with the land transfer.

You must apply for and obtain a land rent clearance certificate from the land commissioner. You do not incur any costs at this stage, and you may wait for approximately 20 days.

Next, you will obtain a land rates clearance certificate from the county office. You need to apply for this certificate through a lawyer. The process will take approximately 5 days and cost you Ksh 10,000. You will need to pay any outstanding land rates as well. This certificate ascertains that you do not owe any outstanding fees to the City County Office.

Obtain Consent to Transfer the Land

The next step involves applying for and obtaining consent to transfer leasehold land from the National Land Commission. You will pay Ksh 1000 and wait for approximately two weeks.

After obtaining the two certificates, your lawyer will write to the Commissioner of Lands to apply for consent to transfer the land.

File the Transfer Instrument

Next, you must file the transfer instrument at the Lands Office. The office assesses the stamp duties payable and the transfer done by the buyer’s lawyer. The seller’s counterpart approves the transfer instrument before it is assessed for Stamp Duty by the Lands office.

Stamp duty for urban lands stands at 4% of the property value and 2% of the property value for rural lands. The amount of stamp duty is indicated during the application’s filing, and the receipt is obtained within approximately a week from the bank. You will make the payment at the Land’s office.

Obtain Stamp Duty Valuation

Once you file a draft at the land office, an inspector will visit to verify the state and development of the land. You may have to pick up the inspector and drive them to the site. This inspection may happen anywhere between a day and some months. The visit helps the evaluator ascertain the indicated buying price of the land to ensure accurate tax payment. If the assessed value is different from the one indicated, the parties involved will have to make additional payments as requested.

Stamp Duty Payment

Once the stamp duty valuation is done, the stamp duty assessment officer will take three days to assess the stamp duty payable and write the amount on the forms. You will then pay the stamp duty with a banker’s check in banks such as NBK and KCB.

You will pay the Commissioner of Domestic Taxes through KRA’s iTax portal. The Kenya Revenue Authority will take up to four days to confirm the receipt of payment. You will then submit the documents for franking after you make the payment. Franking confirms that all the charges on the documents are paid.

Land Registration

Once all these steps have been followed, you must pay a fee of Ksh 500. You will be issued a booking form to complete and submit to the Lands office for the land transfer registration along with the franked transfer documents. The seller’s lawyer will obtain documents such as the original title, land ret clearance certificate, rates clearance certificate, and consent transfer in approximately 14 days and at a price of Ksh 5,000.

 If the registration is successful, you will get the following documents:

  • An original title deed that details the buyer’s name
  • Pay-in slip for the stamp duty
  • Registered transfer form

We recommend that you do another search with the lands ministry after two weeks to ascertain that the land is now registered in your name.

We hope this article answers your questions about title deeds and how to obtain them in Kenya. We would appreciate some feedback in the comment section. 

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