The government should make it easy for the public to access critical services in property ownership, Unique Investors Property CEO Patrick Malika has said, saying any high charges will discourage investments.
This is in the wake of the recently announced increments in service fees by the Lands ministry, where some charges have increased by more than 200 per cent.
Among those affected is the official land ownership search, one of the most crucial steps in property transfers, where one will be required to part with Sh2,000.
Registration of land documents will now be charged Sh1,500, while corporation certificates in the land ownership process will cost another Sh1,500, among other charges.
There is also a review on the stamp duty charges.
According to Malika, the increase will discourage individuals from following some processes, hence exposing them to buying property blindly with risks of losing out.
“Something like land search should be free. When we make it expensing, we scare people from doing the search and investment. Let us think of how we can be able to bring these costs down. Taxation is okay but look at how much we are taxing people,” he said.
Malika spoke in Nairobi during the handing over of title deeds to over 600 landowners by the UIP Real Estate company, for properties in Kilifi, Mchakos and Kajiado counties.
To evade being swindled, he said buyers must ensure they follow due process in land acquisition.
“One must do a search at the land registry to ensure the land does not have a caveat, court case, or attached to a bank….involve a qualified surveyor in certification of the property and a lawyer in drawing the sale agreement,” he said, “Don’t buy land where there is no title deed.”
Mavoko demolitions are among recent cases where land and homeowners have lost investments worth millions, on a property previously owned by East African Portland Cement.
UIP real estate buys land, subdivides it then sales to investors.
It has been in the sector for over nine years, assisting more than 10,000 investors in acquiring land.
With devolution, there has been increased development in counties, Malika noted, creating an opportunity for the growth of the real estate sector.