Quarter acre

Kenyan land is marketed in fractions of an acre: eighth acres, quarter acres, half acres and acres. The quarter acre is the step up from the standard eighth-acre plot, and sellers almost always mean two 50 by 100 plots side by side, which together make a square plot.

The gap. By market convention, two 50 by 100 plots make a quarter acre. In fact they add up to a little less than a true quarter of an acre, just as one 50 by 100 plot is a little less than a true eighth. The difference is small on one plot but adds up when you compare prices per acre, buy several plots or subdivide. The figures box gives both areas in square feet, square metres and hectares.

Hectares on the search. Titles and official searches give the area in hectares, not acres or feet. A plot sold as a quarter acre should show an area close to the two-plot figure in the figures box, or close to a true quarter acre if it was surveyed that way. If the search shows noticeably less, ask why before paying.

One title or two. A quarter acre may be one parcel with one title, or two separate 50 by 100 plots, each with its own title. Two titles make it easy to sell or build on one half later. Splitting a single quarter-acre title into two is a subdivision: it needs a mutation, the consents and approvals, and an amended registry index map before each half gets its own title.

Typical uses. A quarter acre is a popular size for a family home with a garden, parking and a DSQ, or for two houses side by side. In Machakos, Kajiado and outer Kiambu, buyers often choose it to keep space around a bungalow or to hold land they may divide later. What you can build depends on the county's zoning and building approvals, not on the plot size alone.

Comparing prices. Because of the gap, a price for a quarter acre is not quite a quarter of the price for a full acre of land. Convert offers to price per square metre or per hectare before you compare.