The land component of the housing value chain includes law and policy regarding how land is acquired, registered and titled; as well as case law regarding the management of disputes.
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Land in Kenya is broadly divided into three categories: public land, private land, and community land. Each type of land is regulated by different institutions.
The National Land Commission is responsible for the management of public including government land, which is leased out to private persons, save for land held, used or occupied by a state organ. Land held, used or occupied by a national State organ is the only category of public land, pursuant to article 62(2) and (3) of the Constitution, that neither vests in the two levels of government nor is administered by the National Land Commission on behalf of the said two levels of government.
The Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning deals in private freehold and leasehold land and titling of all land whether public, private or community.
Community land is governed by the Community Land Act 2016, which has set up the Community Land Assembly and Community Land Management Committee.
Once land has been assembled or acquired, it must be registered to enable the issuance of title and granting of security of tenure. Again, different laws govern the process of registration for different types of land. The process entails dealing with various professionals such as land surveyors for demarcation and lawyers for conducting due diligence and the transfer. With respect to private land, this process can take time as one must deal with a Land Registry within the Ministry of Lands. To facilitate the process, the Ministry launched an online platform(The National Land Information Management System (NLIMS)) in April 2021, known as ArdhiSasa. The ArdhiSasa platform has had teething problems, and in the interim, is hindering registration of land transactions in the affected areas.
