DEMAND for land in Kitale has gone up after the county government of Trans Nzoia and the National Land Commission streamlined the issuing of title deeds, sparking off a price rally.
More than 30,000 land titles have been issued over the last two months, Governor Patrick Khaemba said.
Property dealers have consequently flocked to the town – the county’s administrative and commercial headquarters – leading to the price rally due to increased demand.
The cost of a 50x100 feet plot has, for example, doubled from about Sh1.5 million.
“We are seeing increased land sale activities because, as we issue land titles, the demand for land has been going up rapidly,” Khaemba said.
Lack of title deeds has been a major impediment to growth of the real estate sector in the county for years.
This is what pushed the county and the NLC to deploy surveyors to fast track issuance the ownership documents, the governor said.
Khaemba said this will promote investment in other sectors beyond agriculture where Kitale has traditionally been a major centre.
The growth in property development is being driven by rising interest from both the county government and the private sector, a move expected to give it a face lift in the coming years.
The county government’s biggest project is the ongoing construction of the proposed Kitale Referral Hospital, which will make it a major destination for health services, in a region heavily reliant on Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret.
Joel Namanja, a property dealer in Kitale, said demand for land was growing by the day.
“Many land buyers from Eldoret and other parts of the country are here looking for land for residential developments and other investments. The demand is high and automatically, the price of plots has gone up by almost 50 per cent over the last two or three months,” said Namanja.