Nairobi landlords have been hit with a new fee by City Hall as it plans to roll out new land rates in an upcoming valuation roll.
A report by Business Daily on Tuesday, June 1, indicated that the county government has introduced a Ksh500 non-refundable fee for those aggrieved by the proposed valuation roll.
The valuation roll is a public document that has been legally prepared and contains all the properties eligible for land rates within the county.
In a notice the county published, all individuals who have objections regarding the listing of their properties will be required to foot the bill before voicing their concerns.
“Subsequently... any person generally... who is aggrieved… may upon payment of a non-refundable fee of Sh500 only and on the prescribed form, lodge an objection with the County Secretary at any time before the expiration or 28 days from May 21, 2021,” read the notice in part.
The comment submission exercise was launched on Friday, May 21 and is expected to run for 28 days till June 18, 2021.
As of the current valuation roll, Nairobi landlords and property owners rely on the document prepared in the 80s in which they are expected to pay 25% of the initial valuation.
In the proposed law, they will be required to foot between 0.1% and 0.115% of the current value of undeveloped land within the city.
The government headed by Anne Kananu explained that the city would expand its revenue by cashing in on development fee.
This comes just days after Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) has teamed up with Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to hold a crackdown on some 17,000 city tenants.
The exercise is aimed at compiling inventory of the housing units run by the county government as well as instituting measures to ensure rent is paid on time.
"Notice is hereby given that Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) in conjunction with Nairobi City County Government (NCCG) and Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) intend to undertake an exercise to update the inventory of county rental houses and tenants residing in the said houses.
"The exercise will be conducted in May 2021," read the notice in part.
