This archive report was first published on 17 September 2019.
The Nairobi County government is losing Sh91 million in monthly revenue due to inefficiencies in its system for building approvals.
Property experts have identified Nairobi as one of the most notorious counties in delaying construction permits, which is hurting the economy.
According to the Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK), only four counties have automated their construction permit procedures since 2011: Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, and Kiambu.
The e-permitting system in Nairobi County has been plagued by disruptions and downtimes for 45 days since July.
AAK President Mugure Njendu noted that the county has experienced a decrease in revenue collection in the first half of the year compared to 2018.
She emphasized the need for the system to be regularized to avoid further decline, citing cases where it took two years to acquire a permit in Nairobi and similar delays in Kisumu, Kiambu, and Mombasa.
Ms. Njendu stated, 'According to our survey, a developer takes an average of 41.5 days to obtain an approval, which is one of the highest in the world.'
She added that in Nairobi, the system has effectively collapsed, leading to further delays and forcing developers to incur additional expenses to facilitate the processing.
KPDA Director for Public Policy and Advocacy Gikonyo Gitonga called on the State to reform construction permits issuance, noting that delays scare away developers.
A recent Knight Frank survey found that the value of approvals in Nairobi dipped 19.2 percent in the first quarter of 2019 to Sh48.54 billion from Sh60.11 billion last year.
