No Land Control Board consent: can you get your money back?
Land Control Act · sources read 3 Oct 2026
Yes. If a deal in agricultural land becomes void because the Land Control Board never consented, any money or other value you paid can be recovered as a debt from the person you paid it to. Consent must be applied for within 6 months of the agreement, though the High Court can extend that time.
- Deadline
- Apply for Land Control Board consent within 6 months of making the agreement.
- Where
- A court, to recover the money as a debt; the High Court, to extend the time for consent.
Steps
- Ask the person you paid to refund you. If they refuse, you can claim the money in court as a debt.
- If both sides still want the deal, the High Court can extend the 6-month time to apply for consent where there is sufficient reason.
Watch out
- Paying or receiving money, or moving onto or staying on the land, to carry on with a void deal is an offence (fine up to KSh 3,000, up to 3 months in jail, or both).
- Inheriting land under a will or without one does not need consent, unless it splits the land into separate titles.
Who this covers
- Anyone who paid money or other value in a controlled land deal that became void.
- Covers sales, transfers, leases, mortgages and similar deals in agricultural land in a land control area.
Official sources (1)
- Land Control Act (Cap. 302) new.kenyalaw.org · read 3 Oct 2026