Conveyancing and Land Due Diligence in Kenya

Our due diligence goes behind the certificate of title rather than accepting it. We conduct official searches and investigate the root of the title, verify the seller’s identity and capacity, confirm on the ground that the parcel exists where the seller says it exists, and check encumbrances, rates and rent so that nothing follows the property into your hands. We then run the transaction itself, the sale agreement, the consents the particular land requires including Land Control Board consent for agricultural land, stamping and registration through the electronic systems the registries now run, and the confirmatory search that proves the title landed where it should. The purchase money is held in our client account, a regulated advocate’s account separate from the firm’s own funds, and released against completed milestones, which in a market without an escrow law is the protection that matters most. Every engagement ends in a written due diligence report and our plain advice, proceed or do not.

A large part of our conveyancing practice acts for diaspora and foreign buyers who cannot attend to anything in person. We execute through properly drafted powers of attorney, verify sites with dated photographic and survey evidence, and run the whole transaction remotely with the client informed at each stage across the time zones. Our complete guide to buying Kenyan land from abroad, linked below, is the fullest treatment of the subject published by any Kenyan firm.