What Fresh Registration of Title Deeds means for Land Owners

The Ministry of Lands and physical planning has began registration of title deeds afresh in accordance with the recently enacted Land Registration Act, 2012. 

The new law repeals statutes under the old regime through which titles were registered hence the need for new registration. The repealed acts include the Registered Land Act (RLA), the Land Titles Act (LTA), the Registration of Titles Act (RTA), and the Government Lands Act (GLA).

This means that the administration and management of private land in Kenya will now be done under one common law i.e the Lands Registration Act 2012.

Land parcels with titles issued under the repealed law statutes will be converted, i.e. cancelled and registered under the new Act. This will centralize land services and simplify the otherwise complex land registration process that existed initially, whereby the various pieces of legislation created their own register. The result was confusion that brought about a lot of land fraud cases and delays in service delivery.

The migration and conversion process of the title deeds should retain the size, ownership and all other interests registered against the respective title. However, the new titles to be issued will have different numbers.

So how do you go about registering your title deed afresh?

The lands registrar will prepare a conversion list showing the land reference numbers that have been converted to new parcel numbers with the corresponding acreage within a registration unit or block.

The cadastral maps and conversion list will then be published in the Kenya Gazette and daily newspapers, with the notice specifying when the register shall be open to the public for transactions or dealings within the registration unit.

Any person with an interest in land within the registration unit and is aggrieved by the information in the conversion list or the cadastral maps shall lodge a complaint to the registrar who shall resolve the same within 90 days of receipt.

At the commencement date, all registers shall be closed and all transactions carried out in the new register. However, all the closed registers and supporting documents shall be maintained in the new registration unit.

A notice will be published in at least two newspapers of nationwide circulation and announced in radio stations of nationwide coverage inviting registered owners to make applications for replacement of title documents from the closed registers.

Land owners within the country will then apply for new title deeds that will replace the old titles issued under the old laws.

The application shall be accompanied by the original title and the owner’s identification documents. The registrar will replace title deeds with new ones but retain the old title documents for record and safe custody.

Already a pilot run of the migration process is underway in Nairobi with some parcels marked for conversion by the Registrar of Lands. You can access the conversion list for these land parcels here.

1. Title deeds to be issued afresh to curb fraud
2. Why all land owners will have to apply for new title deeds
3. Notice on Land Title Conversion