Nairobi County has officially announced the new land rate structure that will take effect from January 1, 2026, aiming to streamline property levies across the city.
The rates, released under the authority of Sections 15(3) and 56(1) of the National Rating Act, 2024, cover both flat rate zones and properties listed under the 2019 Draft Valuation Roll. County Executive Committee Member for Built Environment and Urban Planning, Patrick Mbogo, said the update is intended to align property charges with the latest valuation data while maintaining fairness for ratepayers.
For properties in flat rate zones, charges will range from Sh2,560 annually for land up to 0.1 hectares, increasing incrementally to Sh4,800 for plots exceeding 0.4 hectares.
Properties valued through the 2019 Draft Valuation Roll—including residential, commercial, and agricultural plots—will be billed at 0.115 percent of their unimproved site value (USV) per year.
The county has set clear guidelines on how the new rates interact with previous charges. According to the notice, “New rates lower than the 2022 rates per year shall pay 2022 rates, while new rates exceeding double the 2022 rates shall pay double the 2022 rates.”
Owners who had filed objections to the 2019 Draft Valuation Roll will continue paying the previous rates until their disputes are resolved by the Valuation Board.
Landowners whose properties were not captured in the draft roll or remain unvalued are advised to reach out to the Chief Valuer at City Hall for assistance. The notice also emphasized that sectional title holders must now open individual land rates accounts to ensure proper billing and compliance.
For inquiries or assistance, property owners can contact the Nairobi Customer Care Centre via the listed phone numbers or email. In addition, ratepayers can download their invoices directly by logging into the Nairobi e-services portal at nairobiservices.go.ke.
Early this year, Nairobi Governor Sakaja Johnson expressed concern over the low rate of land rate compliance in the capital.
He noted that only a small proportion of landowners are contributing to the financial resources needed to sustain essential county services.
Speaking on Citizen TV on Wednesday, Sakaja revealed that out of 250,000 registered parcels of land in Nairobi, only 50,000 are currently paying land rates, leaving the majority delinquent and severely limiting the county’s revenue.
“The biggest revenue earner in a city is property taxes. In Nairobi, we have 250,000 pieces of land, but only 50,000 landowners are paying land rates, so the burden falls on this small group. That is not sustainable,” Sakaja said.
