Related documents
- Is amended by 24th Annual Supplement

LAWS OF KENYA
PHYSICAL AND LAND USE PLANNING ACT
THE PHYSICAL AND LAND USE PLANNING (GENERAL DEVELOPMENT PERMISSION AND CONTROL) REGULATIONS
LEGAL NOTICE 253 OF 2021
- Published in Kenya Gazette Vol. CXXIII—No. 253 on 10 December 2021
- Commenced on 10 December 2021
- [Revised by 24th Annual Supplement (Legal Notice 221 of 2023) on 31 December 2022]
Part I – PRELIMINARY
1. Citation
These Regulations may be cited as the Physical and Land Use Planning (General Development Permission and Control) Regulations.2. Interpretation
In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—"amenity" means the physical attributes in an area which contribute to the quality of the environment and its better enjoyment during any permitted use;"ancillary use" means an activity that is subservient to the primary use of land or building;"building" has the meaning assigned to it by section 2 of the Act;"building" or "works" include waste materials, refuse and other matters deposited on land and reference to the erection or construction of building or works shall be construed accordingly;"building line" means a line drawn across a plot such that no building or permanent structure, except a wall of approved design enclosing the plot, maybe within the area contained between that line and the nearest road on which the plot has frontage;"change of user" means any alteration in the use, purpose or level of activity within any property that involves a material change that results in a use that is completely different from the previous one and will require development permission;"class" means a category of uses within which a person does not require application for development permission;"conformance conditions" means conditions for applications that require further professional input such as structural, civil, electrical, mechanical and Information and Communication Technology engineering designs before commencement of development;"controlled area" means any area adjoining land developed or set aside for development of a strategic installation which includes special planning areas within the meaning of section 52(1) of the Act and areas where development may be controlled i.e. buffers, safeguarding areas, protected areas and controlled land;"comprehensive development" means a development proposed and implemented on a defined piece of land that goes beyond one defined land use with each land use being principal;"density" means the maximum amount of development permitted or the maximum munber of persons permitted to reside, as the case may be, on any area of land;"densification of use" means a deliberate planning process that seeks to change and enhance the land carrying capacity of any land parcel or zone in terms of population and user activities;"development application" means developments that relate to change of user, extension of user, extension and renewal of leases;"development approval" means certification of a development permission by the planning authority for purposes of further necessary action by ministries, departments and agencies;"development control instruments" means prescribed standard operating documents including forms and spreadsheets utilised in processing applications for development permission;"development fees" means a fee levied under section 63 of the Act for development of infrastructure in relation to the property in question for general use by the residents of the area where the property in question is located;"development permission" means permission granted by the planning authority to an applicant to develop land under section 57 of the Act;"dwelling house" means a building including a garden that affords those who use it facilities required for daily private domestic use;"easement" means a non-possessory interest in another’s land that allows the holder to use the land to a particular extent, to require the proprietor to undertake an act relating to the land, or to restrict the proprietor’s use to a particular extent, and shall not include a profit; and"erection" in relation to a building includes extension, alteration and re-erection;"extension of user" means introduction of an ancillary use in addition to the existing use within the same building or site while maintaining the dominance of the principal use on a specific parcel of land;"ground coverage" as applied to a development means the percentage of the horizontal area of the site permitted to be used;"highest water mark" means the highest level or boundary reached by a river or lake during floods, and by the ocean during periods of high tides;"land use" means the economic functions or utility associated with a specific piece of land such as agriculture, industrialization, residential, transportation, public purpose, recreation, public utility or educational utility;"licenced professional" includes a registered physical planner, registered architect, registered engineer, or, licensed land surveyor, licensed valuer and registered quantity surveyor;"location plan" means a supporting document presented in a standard metric scale and indicating the direction of North to make the orientation clear that may be required by a planning authority as part of a development application that provides an illustration of the proposed development in its surrounding context to enable the planning authority to properly identify the land which the application refers;"material consideration" means a matter of a planning nature that a planning authority may consider in determining a development application;"performance conditions" means conditions discharged during implementation through interim, partial and incremental certification;"permitted development" means development which may be undertaken without the outright permission of the relevant planning authority;"planning guidelines" means guidelines formulated by the Cabinet Secretary under section 10(b) of the Act;"preliminary application" means an application seeking detailed information and guidance to enable submission of a detailed application;"relevant Professional Registration Board" has the meaning assigned to it under Physical Planners Registration Act (Cap. 536), Architects and Quantity Surveyors Act (cap. 525), Survey Act (Cap. 299), Valuers Act (Cap. 532) and Engineers Act (Cap. 530);"riparian reserve" means the ecological buffer of earth surface not being the bed of a stream, river, ocean, dam, natural or artificial lake, swamp or riverine wetlands measured horizontally from the highest water mark and may include part of any land parcel situated at the distance from the bank within the measurements specified in regulation 14, that is protected under the Act or its use regulated under any other written law;"strategic installation" means any installation that is classified as such under the Physical and Land Use Planning (Classification of Strategic National or Inter-County Projects) Regulations (Sub. Leg) and relevant regulations or declared as such by the Cabinet Secretary subject to a risk assessment report prepared under these regulations or developed within a strategic national project;" subdivision" in relation to land means the division of a specific parcel of land, including buildings into units held under single ownership, into two or more parts whether the subdivision is by conveyance, transfer or partition or for the purpose of sale, gift, lease or any other purpose;"statutory undertaker" means statutory bodies responsible under any written law within the country and any other body which the cabinet secretary may by notice in the Gazette specify to undertake activities that may lead to physical alterations to the land which has some degree of permanency;" submission certificate" means a certificate that is issued to a person who has submitted a development application in accordance with section 62(1) of the Act;"way leave" means a contract between the owner or occupier of land (the grantor) and a third party (the grantee) permitting the grantee to access privately-owned land to carry out works in return for some form of compensation; and"zoning" means a regulation that defines land in a specific geographic location which can be developed and used.3. Object of the Regulations
The object of these Regulations is to provide for the procedures and standards for development control and the regulation of physical planning and land use.Part II – CHANGE OF USER AND EXTENSION OF USER
4. Application
5. Planning considerations and standards
In addition to paragraph 5 of the Third Schedule to the Act, a planning authority may consider the following matters with respect to an application under regulation 4—Part III – EXTENSION OF LEASE AND RENEWAL OF LEASE
6. Standards or considerations
In addition to paragraph 6 of the Third Schedule to the Act and the provisions of any other relevant written law, the following matters shall also be considered in repect of an application for an extension of lease or renewal of lease—Part IV – SUBDIVISION AND AMALGAMATION
7. Application
A developer shall apply to the planning authority for planning, approval in respect of a proposed subdivision or amalgamation in areas to which these Regulations apply.8. Subdivision and amalgamation schemes
9. Planning brief
10. Surrender of land for public purposes
Part V – EASEMENTS, WAYLEAVES AND RIPARIAN RESERVES
11. Utilisation of riparian reserves
12. Standards and considerations for easement and wayleaves
13. Management of riparian reserves
14. Measurement of the extent of riparian reserves
The following standards shall apply during the measurement of riparian reserves for the purposes of these Regulations—Part VI – REQUIREMENTS FOR SUBMISSION OF DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS
15. Requirement for Submission of application
16. Specification of onsite notice
The onsite notice referred to in regulation 3(2)(1) shall be in Form PLUPA/DC/4 as set out in the First Schedule and shall have the following specifications—Part VII – PROCESSING OF DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS
17. County Director to issue tracking number for applications
Upon submission of a development application, the County Director shall issue a submission certificate with a tracking number in accordance with section 62(1) in form PLUPA/DC/5 as set out in the First Schedule.18. Payment of prescribed fees
19. Registration of Development Application
Upon confirmation of payment of application fees or waiver authority, the county director shall record the application in the development applications Register in line with section 62 of the Act.20. Circulation and reviewing of application
21. Decision-making and issuance of development permission
22. Permitted development
23. Exemption from development permission
The carrying out of the following works by statutory undertakers in case of emergency is exempt from the process of development permission—24. Receiving and Processing of Conformance Conditions Applications
Application for Conformance Conditions shall be received by the Director-General in line with regulation 7(1), (2) or (3) or the County Director in line with regulation 7(4) who shall—Part VIII – PERFORMANCE CONDITIONS MONITORING AND INSPECTIONS
25. Implementation of performance conditions
26. Site Inspection Procedure and Issuance of Permit
27. Final Inspection Issuance of Certificate of Compliance or Occupation
28. Revocation of development permissions
Part IX – MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
29. Registers maintained by the County Executive Committee Members
History of this document
31 December 2022 this version
Revised by
24th Annual Supplement