The Kenya Revenue Authority is planning to start seizing thousands of homes and office blocks in Nairobi. This comes as the KRA and the Nairobi County start to crackdown on landlords who have defaulted on paying land rates.
According to a report that appeared in the Business Daily on Wednesday, a number of homes and office blocks which have been defaulting on rates have already been served with notices.
“You are supposed to have paid up all the rate fees for the plot, including any arrears owed to the Nairobi County Government. The County Government Finance Act of 2015 mandates the authority to repossess any land property the owner defaults rate payment and reallocate it to the deserving,” the daily quoted one notice.
The Nairobi County has been collaborating with the KRA to enhance revenue collections and close revenue gaps. According to the report in the daily, the Nairobi County’s push to recover defaulted land rates from rental income.
Mabati rentals that bring in Sh. 3.75 million per month
“The Nairobi county assembly in 2018 amended the Revenue Act of 2015, empowering City Hall to recover land rates from rental income in the push to collect the more than Sh. 15 billion that was owed to it at the time. The changed law marked a shift from the previous regime where the county administration was only allowed to restrict access to property whose owners had defaulted on payment,” the report said.
Following this amended Act, the Nairobi County can now temporarily repossess homes and office blocks in Nairobi and make recoveries of the debt owed through monthly rent paid by tenants.