How To Avoid Buying Riparian Land

Demolition of buildings can be a worst nightmare to a real estate investor. The frustrations and loss one goes through can be very painful. Kenya has witnessed the demolition of buildings which were as a result of them being built on riparian land.

Pendo Setim Pendo Setim
Feb 4, 2021 - 15:25
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How To Avoid Buying Riparian Land
photo/courtesy

The Kenya Institute of Survey have approximated the total cost of buildings to be around 40 billion. Such is a huge amount of money which may sometimes have been achieved by means of borrowing loans.It is so sad that most investors find themselves in such situations, mostly due to lack of knowledge on riparian land.

Riparian land is land which is next to a river or in other words, it is a wetland.  Kenyan law defines riparian land as being a minimum of 6m and upto a maximum of 30 m on either side of a river bank  from the highest watermak. It is necessary to have knowledge and information which will be helpful in safeguarding your land investment to avoid demolishion in future. To avoid such mistakes as a land investor, you have to;

Confirm your property boundaries

When looking for a place to buy land, make sure you are  certain of the existence of any rivers. You can visit the property that you intend to buy in person to check and verify that the property is not encroaching riparian land.  Ensure that the place is properly surveyed so that when you start working on your land, you will be sure that you will not wake up to shock of your property being in a state that needs demolition.

Be aware of the laws and regulations

There are national and county rules, which regulate building construction of real estate properties in urban areas.You can engage a competent conveyance  lawyer to make it clear for you how these rules work. Getting to know whether these laws allow you to put up certain structures in a certain area will place you in a better position to invest your land or property in a legal area.

Conduct a title deed search

This helps in determining the kind of property you are interested in. Following a well laid down procedure on acquiring environmental license is important. Do not follow illegal procedures and get a license that will turn out invalid later on when enforcement is done.