No Land Rates on Freehold Properties in Kajiado County
In December 2024, a landmark High Court ruling ,Sheria Mtaani & Shadrack Wambui & Others v. Kajiado County Assembly & Others (Petition No. 2 of 2024, KEELC 13540),rewired the economics of land ownership in Kajiado.
The Court stopped Kajiado County from collecting land rates on freehold properties under Section 14(8) and Part 2 of the Eighth Schedule of the Kajiado County Finance Act, 2023, declaring that imposition unconstitutional.
Source: Kenya Law – Full Judgment Text (Petition No. 2 of 2024)
If you own freehold land, your plot can no longer be lumped into blanket county rate collections designed for leasehold property.
Kajiado’s investors now enjoy a legal shield on freehold properties that:
• Lowers your annual carrying costs (no surprise land rate invoices),
• Raises your expected net returns, and
• Keeps your profit margins clean, predictable, and legally protected.
This is cashflow insurance and most counties in Kenya still don’t have it.
Source: Kenya Law Library – High Court Rulings (2024)
The Student & Employee Rental Funnel
Properties hugging Kampala University, KAG University, and even the Doctors’ Association Project, such as Rockville Gardens by Mhasibu Housing, sit inside a powerful student–staff rental funnel.
Every semester brings a new wave of students, lecturers, administrators, and hospital staff all searching for clean, walkable housing. That cycle creates:
• High demand for housing and occupancy,
• Low marketing cost, and
• Consistent monthly yields.
Source: Mhasibu Housing – Rockville Gardens Project Overview
Appreciation Evidence
In Q1 2025, Kitengela recorded a 13.1% land appreciation rate, outperforming satellite peers like Ngong and Juja.
Cytonn Real Estate’s 2023 Market Review logged 14.2% year-on-year price growth for unserviced plots in Kitengela’s corridor.
In Cytonn’s FY 2024/25 Residential Report, Kitengela ranked among Nairobi Metro’s best-performing nodes, offering 6.7% total returns beating the detached-home average.
Sources:
Cytonn Real Estate – Annual Market Review 2023
Cytonn Research – FY 2024/25 Nairobi Metro Residential Report
Titling Clarity -The Liquidity Shift
The same judgment that blocked rate imposition reaffirmed: rates only apply once land is lawfully converted to leasehold. Until then, freehold titles remain protected.
Developers like Mhasibu Housing have ready titles for Rockville Gardens, confirming that survey, subdivision, and registration are complete.
That clarity unlocks powerful liquidity:
• You can mortgage the land.
• You can develop immediately.
• You can flip without bureaucratic lag.
A few years ago, transacting land in Kajiado meant months of waiting. Now, clean titling turns static land into liquid capital.
Sources:
Nation Africa – Property & Land Titling Reports
Mhasibu Housing – Rockville Gardens Kitengela
Infrastructure Receipts Underway & Municipality Momentum
According to the Kajiado County Integrated Development Plan (2023–2027), major upgrades are budgeted and planned including road rehabilitation, water reticulation, surveying & mapping and spatial planning across Kitengela and surrounding towns.
Source: Kajiado County Integrated Development Plan 2023–2027 (Official PDF)
The Kitengela Municipality IDEP 2024–2029 has already been presented to the County Assembly formally structuring municipal infrastructure, zoning, roads, housing, and environmental planning.
Source: Kitengela Municipality IDP 2024–2029 Presentation – Official Website
Kitengela now holds official municipal identity (2025) it’s no longer just “emerging.” That shift grants direct access to urban infrastructure funds, planning autonomy, and zoning control.
When a place becomes a municipality, development stops being speculative and becomes structured and that’s already in motion.
Source: Kajiado Urban Areas and Cities Status Update (2025)
Enquire more on the Property above
Quick Contacts
Head Office: Maendeleo House, 5th Floor, Along Monrovia Street
Postal Address: P.O. Box 47427 – 00100, Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: +254 722 668700, +254 722 668887
Email: info@mhasibuhousing.co.ke
