You want to buy or sell land in Kenya, the Institution of Surveyors, Kenya recommends the following prescribed procedures as best practice. It is advisable to involve a professional in the process, that is, either a Lawyer or a Registered Real Estate Agent.
Below are steps that should be followed in different situations of buying and
selling:
(i) Get the copy of title from the vendor or owner to conduct an official search at the District/ County Lands Office to investigate the title. This will establish the following, among other details:-
• The Land Registration Number or the Title Number
• The Registered Owner
• Size of the land
• Registry Map sheet Number
• Tenure details i.e freehold or Leasehold
• Encumbrances charged to the title – Whether the land is a security of a
bank loan
• Lease term and commencement date, to ascertain the remaining lease
term (Usually more than 40 years is appropriate)
• Caveats and cautions restricting the sale of the subject land.
(ii) Check whether the subject property is included on the Report by the Commission of Inquiry on the Illegal and Irregularly Allocated Land June 2004 (The Ndungu Land Report)
(iii) Search the court registries via the Kenya Law Reports (www.Kenyalaw.org) to ascertain whether there are any unresolved disputes that may not have been recorded in the title search certificate.
(iv) Get a copy the National Identity Card (ID) of the seller and conduct a search of the person named in the title as the registered owner at the Registration of Persons Bureau (if in doubt of the authenticity of the ID).
(v) If the land is located in an urban area, conduct a search at the County Government offices to determine authenticity as well as the land rates payable and outstanding rates. Before any sale of such land, a Rates Clearance Certificate must be obtained from the Rates Department. Many people assume this part. Also confirm the user of the land, whether it is residential, agricultural, industrial etc. It’s important to note that if it is an agricultural land then a Consent Certificate from the County Land Control Board must be obtained to allow the purchase or sale.
(vi) Get a Survey Map, known as the Registry Index Map (R.I.M), or an FR from the County Survey office to ascertain that the said property is located on the ground as the said map. In cases where there is a sub-division on a parent plot and the same is not amended on the survey map, then a Mutation Form is acquired to ascertain the subdivisions. Where in doubt a registered Surveyor should be engaged to re-establish the beacons.
(vii) Visit the subject property and do a general survey of the area to establish whether there are any rights of passage through the land (this is not normally recorded in the title document or map); whether squatters have built on the land as it might be costly to get rid of them; and, most importantly, whether you like it! I know friends who have bought land without going to the property, because they were promised heaven and when they finally
visited, they came back with horror stories.
(viii)Discuss with the neighbours, village elders to understand the subject property better
• Neighbours
• Village elder
• The Chief, County Commissioners, the relatives of the owner
After doing all this, it is still important to do a background check of the vendor. This is very important.
Check whether the vendor has the capacity to sell the land
• If he/she is a trustee, then check the Trust Deed to confirm that he has the
power to lease or sell the land.
• If it is a Limited Company, ascertain from the Memorandum and Article of
Association if it has the necessary powers from its objectives to sell property.
Do a search at the Companies Registry to confirm the directorship and
shareholding. Note that any sale agreements should be signed and sealed by
the designated directors.
• If the registered owner of the land is deceased, then ensure that the personal
representatives of the deceased have Grant of Probate (Where there is a Will)
or Letter of Administration (Where there is none), as stipulated in the
Succession Act.
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