Land Subsdivision Process: Review of the Intention, challenges and Process Involved

 

Land Subdivision Process

What is Land Sub-division?

Sub-division is the process of dividing one parcel of land into two or more parts.

1.0 Reasons for subdivision of land

• It is easier to sell smaller pieces of land as opposed to one large one
•  It can improve your cash flow if you sell to different types of buyers e.g. homebuilder or a company
•  If you want to divide portions among family members
•  To offset a financial debt like a hospital bill or clear a loan

2.0 Challenges of Subdivision

• You might not get consent from your neighbours who will feel that you are infringing on their land
• It is a long process that can get tiresome if you don’t have professionals to help you  
• it is costly because you need experts like a land surveyor and lawyer to ensure you are doing the right thing

3.0 Here are the steps to take when dividing land in Kenya. 

The process commences by preparation of a sub-division scheme by a duly registered physical planner with a valid license from the Physical Planners’ Registration Board. Once this is done, an application for sub-division is done at the relevant Sub county planning office with the following accompanying documents: -

• Duly filled Form PPA1;
• Certificate of official Search;
• Ownership documents;
• Registry Index Map (RIM)/ Survey Map;
• Copy of payment receipt for land rates and Rates Clearance certificate;
• Copy of the physical planners practising certificate;
• Land Control Board consent to sub-divide the land;
• Four copies of sub-division scheme plan signed by the physical planner and the developer.

 

The Subdivision scheme is then circulated to various county departments and Government agencies for evaluation purposes. The same includes the below:

• County Land Survey office where beacons and boundaries are confirmed. Road reservations and alignments are evaluated.
• County planning office, where they check for zoning compliance, planning standards and specifications.
• County Roads Directorate
• County valuation Directorate, where they evaluate the rating and valuation status and Public land verification.
• County Environment Directorate
• NEMA/WARMA where environmental considerations are taken into account
• KRC/KAA where railway and aviation considerations are taken into account
• Ministry of Defence where Military considerations are taken into account.

1.        Once the above is done, it reaches the approval stage. The County planning Committee issues the approvals. This is communicated through the County Director of physical planning through the form PPA2. The approvals issued are usually conditional and are binding on the owner, successors and permitted assigns.

Summary of the process involved:

• Do a title deed search from Ardhisasa platform which will tell you if the land has any restrictions that prevent you from subdividing it.
• Look for a surveyor to help you get a Registry Index Map (RIM) which shows the map of the land to subdivide. The cost of surveying will depend on the size of the land.
• The surveyor takes measurements o set the boundary marks. 
• The surveyor creates a subdivision plan that needs to be signed by a physical planner who will issue a Physical Planning Act (PPA1) form.
• The blueprints are taken to the County Land’s office which will approve and issue a PPA2.
• The landowner visits the Land Control Board, which meets once a month, with their spouse to explain the reason for subdividing the land.
• After getting consent from the Land Control, the surveyor will set the boundary marks.
• The surveyor and landowner sign the land transfer documents and take all the documents mentioned above to the local survey office who will assign new plot numbers.
• The documents are then taken to the County Registries to register the title deeds.
• The new title registration documents are taken to the Survey of Kenya office to amend the maps.