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This study aims to evaluate the property tax base under the local government property taxation in Nairobi City and its implication on revenue adequacy of the city. Nairobi has grown both in population and in physical extent resulting to increased demand for urban services. The city faces challenges of adequate infrastructure service provision against increasing demand. Property taxation if fully exploited can be a major source of city government revenue, which has been dwindling.

Literature review of property tax bases in the world and examination of best practices was done to highlight the inadequacies of property tax base administration in Nairobi. Primary data were gathered through interviews of officers in Nairobi City involved in the land rating process. Secondary data were obtained through documentary search and field survey of the study area.

The study established that Nairobi relies on a dual system of taxation, namely, site value rating and area rating. Tax is on vacant land only and excludes improvements. There are many legal exemptions and administrative exclusions from the tax base. The property tax registers do not include all the taxable properties and there is no regular updating of the tax registers. Nairobi relies on an outdated valuation roll whose values have no relation to the current market values.

These factors have resulted to a narrow tax base, which affects the revenue potential of the city and its ability to adequately provide infrastructure services.

This is an original research, which relied mainly on primary data. To establish the property tax bases and the exempt properties in Nairobi, the researchers interviewed the officers at the Nairobi city land valuation and property management directorate using structured questionnaires. To address the third objective on whether the property tax base is complete and all-inclusive, the research relied on primary data. The research population was residential properties in Buruburu, Kilimani and Riruta areas of Nairobi city. The sample data on property details were collected from the Ministry of Land and Physical Planning (MLPP). The researchers then examined the records at the Nairobi City to evaluate whether the properties, which are registered at the MLPP, are charged land rates at the city level and at what amounts. This included properties under site value rating and area rating.

Examines a practical problem that arises in the Depreciated Replacement Cost (DRC) valuation of specialised property assets, particularly those owned by Central Government and the National Health Service which are subject to capital charging. The DRC approach values the site on a market basis and the building on a cost basis, adjusted for obsolescence, and aggregates the two elements. The literature and most practitioners having tended to focus on the problems of the cost elements, aims to look more closely at the problems relating to the site valuation. Different approaches significantly affect the value and can also react perversely with other strands of Government policy. While the main focus here is on Central Government property assets, these throw into sharp focus issues which are of wider interest.

Many taxing authorities use unimproved land (site) values as a tax base. In highly developed urban areas this may require the use of indirect valuation methods, such as an extraction technique to arrive at the land value. The purpose of this paper is to propose that the land extraction (residual) valuation calculation of an investment property should incorporate productivity variables, rather than cost based figures, in order to simulate market value principles.

This paper examines the assessment of the land component of investment property as an ad valorem tax base. It justifies a valuation methodology using the market comparison approach before developing a model to meet specified criteria. The model incorporates productivity based benchmarks and differentials appropriate for shopping centre properties. The model is then tested on an Australian shopping centre.

This paper found that the land value component of a major shopping centre in Australia could be derived from comparable vacant and improved sales using the variables of moving annual turnover (MAT) and gross lettable area (GLA) as key value determinants.

This exploratory research identified a model that is appropriate for major shopping centres in Queensland, Australia. The model could form the framework for other types of investment property but the key productivity determinants would require re‐examination.

This study provides a practical solution to an ongoing valuation problem arising from the rating legislation in Australia, which requires the determination of site value for all property types.

This paper uses productivity variables to assess the site value of investment property. This innovative methodology can provide a more accurate appraisal of site values.

A tax based on land value is in many ways ideal, but many economists dismiss it by assuming it could not raise enough revenue. Standard sources of data omit much of the potential tax base, and undervalue what they do measure. The purpose of this paper is to present more comprehensive and accurate measures of land rents and values, and several modes of raising revenues from them besides the conventional property tax.

The paper identifies 16 elements of land's taxable capacity that received authorities either trivialize or omit. These 16 elements come in four groups.

In Group A, Elements 1‐4 correct for the downward bias in standard sources. In Group B, Elements 5‐10 broaden the concepts of land and rent beyond the conventional narrow perception, while Elements 11‐12 estimate rents to be gained by abating other kinds of taxes. In Group C, Elements 13‐14 explain how using the land tax, since it has no excess burden, uncaps feasible tax rates. In Group D, Elements 15‐16 define some moot possibilities that may warrant further exploration.

This paper shows how previous estimates of rent and land values have been narrowly limited to a fraction of the whole, thus giving a false impression that the tax capacity is low. The paper adds 14 elements to the traditional narrow “single tax” base, plus two moot elements advanced for future consideration. Any one of these 16 elements indicates a much higher land tax base than economists commonly recognize today. Taken together they are overwhelming, and cast an entirely new light on this subject.

Valuation, whether for market purposes or for estimates of individual worth, are rarely proved inaccurate. However, this may be due to difficulties in proving error rather than reliability of valuation methods. If this is true, rationality is a more important test of a valuation method. Nonetheless, the potential for error can be simply illustrated by comparing valuers' assessments of value of straightforward and complex office investments. The complexity of the second example illustrated in this paper derives from the impact of depreciation, and the recommended approach is presented as a general solution to problems of valuing the increasingly common depreciating property investment.

This paper aims to explore the case for the radical reform of land policy worldwide. It does so, however, in the context of present problems posed by the prevailing coronavirus pandemic. It is a strategic study, not a scientific analysis and is oriented towards the field of the built environment in general and the real estate industry in particular.

Although it draws on concepts of land management long extolled and covers concerns currently circulating about the prospects for urban planning and property development post-pandemic, the synthesis is original.

The concluding counsel is that land policy reform, being a component factor of so much of society's endeavours, should figure far more prominently across the political platforms of the world.

Most of the material regarding the “Great Land Question” is based on findings from countless strategic foresight studies conducted by the author over the past 25 years and re-assessed in light of the pandemic. If correct, the practical implications will be significant.

This is a review of existing models.

There has been much discussion in the popular media recently on the topic of Expert Systems (for example the BBC ‘Horizon’ of 21st March, 1983, or the Sunday Times, 1st May, 1983). Expert Systems are ‘computer programs that can acquire knowledge from experts and make it available in the form of advice to those less skilled’ (Landsdown, 1980). Such expert systems are one of the main building blocks of the ‘fifth generation’ computers, which are under development, with massive government encouragement, in Japan.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Index by subjects, compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.