Nairobi gives property owners until December 31 to regularise unauthorised buildings
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Nairobi County has opened a regularisation amnesty giving property owners with unauthorised developments until December 31 to obtain the required planning approvals.
Nairobi County has given property owners who have not complied with county property regulations up to December 31 to regularise their unauthorised developments.
In a notice obtained by Kenyans.co.ke on Thursday, September 10, the county government opened the amnesty window specifically for structures built without proper approvals, giving owners a chance to fix their paperwork before the deadline lapses and to support orderly growth across the city.
Property owners applying under the programme must engage a licensed architect, structural engineer and/or physical planner to process the required approvals. The notice states that developments built on public land, road reserves or riparian land are excluded from the regularisation programme and will not qualify.
The move comes as Nairobi grapples with widespread non-compliance among property owners. County data shows the city has between 250,000 and 256,000 registered land parcels, but only about 20 per cent, or roughly 50,000, are fully compliant and up to date on rates, leaving an estimated 200,000 to 204,000 owners on the wrong side of the compliance line.
That gap costs the county more than Ksh50 billion annually, according to county figures. Governor Johnson Sakaja has announced land rate waivers to cushion property owners, while also deploying six private debt recovery and auctioneering firms to pursue billions of shillings in unpaid land rates and accumulated interest.