Access to land is a necessary part of housing development. However, certain tenure systems don’t support the emergence of formal land markets, and ineffective land administration can also hamper efforts to make land available. Only an estimated 10% of land in Sub-Saharan Africa is formally registered, and land that is not registered is difficult to secure for housing development. Governments, then, need to play a key role in the recording and enforcing of ownership claims.
Taking steps to streamline registration procedure, Kenya adopted a new land policy that reduced the stamp duty from 25 percent to 5 percent of the principal amount. The policy also provided VAT exemptions for developments with more than twenty low-cost units and reduced the tax on mortgages from 0.2 percent to 0.1 percent.
Source:
World Bank Group. (2015) Stocktaking of the Housing Sector in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and Opportunities. World Bank, Washington, DC.