City residents given chance to regularise their unapproved buildings
Nairobi County Governor Johnson Sakaja is expected to formulate an advisory committee to guide Regularisation of Developments Act 2015, that shall run for a period of 12 months.
What you need to know:
- We will be regularising the buildings after making sure that they are safe for occupation. We will have structural engineers who will come inspect and provide a report before the building is approved because we do not want to risk the life of the residents.
- Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja is expected to formulate an advisory committee to guide the exercise that shall run for a period of 12 months.
Nairobi City County government is expected to commence a process of regularising all the unapproved buildings in an effort to meet its revenue target with an extra Sh3 billion raised of the Sh19 billion targeted from the ongoing constructions in the devolved unit.
The county government hopes to net approximately Sh3 billion in an effort to meet its revenue targets in the financial year 2023/2024.
Regularisation is the process of approving buildings whose construction plans were not originally approved by the county government before the beginning of the construction.
It includes buildings which do not conform to the approved plans by the county especially in situations where the county approved two floors but the developer developed more than the approved floors.
County Finance executive Charles Kerich said the county will be providing an opportunity to the city residents to regularise their developments for a specified period of time.
“There are situations where you find buildings being constructed at night because they do not have permits. Some developers get an approval for two floors and go ahead to construct four floors, this can only be rectified through regularisation. The county is exploring avenues of meeting its own-source revenue targets and this process will help go a long way,” Mr Kerich said.
He however noted that the regularisation process will follow due process to ensure safety of buildings.
“We will be regularising the buildings after making sure that they are safe for occupation. We will have structural engineers who will come inspect and provide a report before the building is approved because we do not want to risk the life of the residents,” Mr Kerich added.
According to the Nairobi City County Regularisation of Developments Act 2015, Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja is expected to formulate an advisory committee to guide the exercise that shall run for a period of 12 months. The CEC may however extend the period to a maximum of six months.
The act also provides that buildings unauthorised developments such as those located on public projects such as roads and other public utilities shall not be approved. Developments located on riparian and forest land shall also not be regularised.
Nairobi City County last carried out a similar exercise during former governor Evans Kidero era. Through the exercise the county recorded the highest revenue of Sh12 billion in 2015/2016.
The county government has so far netted a revenue of close to Sh7 billion in the first six months of the financial year 2023/2024.
