The Nairobi City County government cabinet has approved auction of properties belonging individuals and companies who have defaulted to pay land rates to recover their dues.
This comes after the expiry of the second waiver of land rates by the governor Johnson Sakaja’s led administration which required the property owners to settle the arrears.
“The recovery process should be as efficient as possible and be handled by county internal lawyers to avoid incurring huge legal fees that are normally pegged on the value of land in dispute.” The dispatch from the cabinet read in part.
At the beginning of June 2024, City Hall published a list of rate defaulters giving them a month’s grace period to settle the principal while waving the interests and penalties.
The cabinet meeting chaired by the city administrator Johnson Sakaja also authorized caveats on all debt properties to prevent any transactions, including subdivision, amalgamation, and transfer.
The County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Urban Planning and Built Environment Stephen Mwangi also approved the issuance of agency notice for properties with rental income, with tenants required to pay rent directly to the county pending the clearance of all outstanding rates.
Nairobi’s six key own-source revenue streams include parking fees, rates, single business permits, house rents, building permits, and billboards and adverts which account for close to 80 per cent of the annual own-source revenue.
Land rates are the top own-source revenue earner in Nairobi, accounting for about 25 per cent of revenue collected by the county government.
This comes with two weeks to the end of the 2023/2024 financial year as the city has managed to raise Sh3.25 billion in land rates, against a target of Sh7billion as of yesterday.
The county government of Nairobi has been providing rent waivers to residents living in county-owned houses.
These houses, numbering 17,000, are in neighborhoods including Maringo, Uhuru, Kaloleni, Jericho, Buruburu, Kariobangi South, Ziwani, and Jerusalem.
Their rent ranges from Sh2, 000 to Sh20,000 per month, depending on the location.
According to Section 7 of the Nairobi City County Waiver Administration Act of 2013, any rent waiver granted must be reported to the County Assembly and published in the gazette notice within 14 days of its issuance.
Reports from the county indicate that Nairobi is experiencing a loss in revenue due to residents’ failure to pay rates promptly.
