Sectional Properties Act

Pursuant to a notice issued by the Ministry of Lands and Planning (“MOLPP”) on 9^th May 2021, long term leases supported by architectural drawings shall no longer be registered with effect from 10^th May, 2021.The Sectional Properties Act, 2020 (“the Act”) requires conversion of all long term leases intended to confer ownership of apartments, flats, maisonettes, town houses, villas and go downs that do not conform with section 54 (5) of the Land Registration Act within tw0 (2) years of commencement of the Act.The Act and the Land Registration Act require that all sectional plans submitted for registration must:

1. be geo-referenced;
2. indicate the parcel number;
3. indicate the unit’s number;
4. indicate approximate floor area of each unit;
5. be signed by the proprietor;
6. be signed and sealed by the Director of Survey;
7. clearly indicate the user of the unit.

MOLPP has started the process of converting long term leases registered on the basis of architectural drawings to conform with the Act and the Land Registration Act.Following the notice by the Cabinet Secretary MOLPP and as a result of the concerns arising from the said notice, representatives of the Law Society of Kenya Nairobi Branch held a meeting with representatives from the MOLPP on 11^th May, 2021 where it was resolved as follows:-

1. Existing titles under long term leases

Parcels within Nairobi registry have been uploaded on the NLIMS platform and all dealings and transactions will be required to be undertaken through NLIMS. Accordingly, the transactions and dealings shall proceed as follows:- Upon presenting any instrument for registration, the MOLPP shall:-

1. Georeference the property at the government’s cost on priority basis;
2. Register the sectional plan;
3. Open the register for the units;
4. Upload the property register for the unit on NLIMS; and
5. Proceed with the registration process

Transactions and dealings with titles registered under the Registration of Titles Registry, Government Lands Registry and Registries outside Nairobi will proceed under the current practice but the owners will be required to commence the regularization process and complete the conversion process. The government will cater for the cost of geo-referencing.

2. Ongoing Transactions

This relates to:-

1. Documents lodged in the registry but pending registration- registration of these documents should be finalized under the current practice;
2. Documents where stamp duty has been paid and the same are pending Presentation-Documents to be allowed for presentation and registration be finalized under the current practice; and
3. Leases presented for assessment for stamp duty- The collector of stamp duty be allowed to assess for stamp duty; payment made and registration be finalized under the current practice provided that the transaction is not in respect of new development.

3. Partially registered developments

These are developments where leases have been registered under the Registration of Titles Act and some leases have been issued. It was resolved that leases presented for registration shall be finalized under the current practice

4. New developments where no lease has been registered

New developments will have to comply with the provisions of the Act as well as the Land Registration Act. We continue to follow up with the MOLPP and shall keep you updated of further developments.