Freehold

Freehold is the strongest form of private land ownership in Kenya. There is no lease and no end date. The owner can sell it, leave it to their heirs, charge it to a bank as security, or subdivide it, subject to planning rules and, for farmland, Land Control Board consent.

Freehold land is registered under the Land Registration Act 2012 with a certificate of title. Many freeholds were first registered under the old Registered Land Act, where the owner was called the "absolute proprietor". That is why sellers still advertise "absolute title" to mean freehold.

Who can hold it. Article 65 of the Constitution of Kenya allows non-citizens to hold land only on leasehold, and caps the lease term. When the Constitution came in, freehold interests held by non-citizens were turned into leases. A company counts as a citizen only if it is wholly owned by Kenyan citizens. Kenyans abroad who keep their citizenship can still buy freehold.

What the owner pays. Freehold land does not pay the national land rent that leaseholds pay to the government. Whether and how a county rates freehold land depends on that county's rating law, so ask the county for a rates statement before buying.

What still applies. Freehold does not free land from planning control. Change of user, subdivision and building plans still need county approval, and agricultural freehold land needs Land Control Board consent for a sale, lease or charge.

• Central Kenya, Rift Valley and Western farmland: freehold is the norm on agricultural and rural land, much of it first registered after land adjudication.
• Nairobi and other cities: freehold exists in some older suburbs, but most urban land is leasehold from the government.
• Coast: a mix of freehold, leasehold and unregistered arrangements; check the title type carefully.