by Realtor Patrick UNDERSTANDING LAND TITLES IN LAGOS IN 2022 BEFORE YOU BUY
A B C OF LAND TITLES
Prior to the Land Use Act of 1978, the ownership of Lands was controlled by communal authorities (traditional families) who had powers to assign or rent it out to whom they deemed. By enactment of the Land Act, all lands (mostly in urban areas) became owned and controlled by the State government on behalf of the people.
Land titles are formal documents that show and outline the right of ownership on a piece of property. Apart from being used to confirm ownership of a property, Land titles help prospective buyers and landowners understand their rights and boundaries, and security on a property.
If a property does not have your name on its title another person can legally claim that property even if the property belongs to you but as long as you possess the relevant title documents recognized by the government then you have nothing to worry about. The office of the land registry records all legally recognized land titles.
Once you have your land titles you are at liberty to do what you please with your property, you can transfer it whenever and to whomever, you please.
The controversy over ownership of land in Nigeria is extreme even among family members, on a daily basis, people are trooping into Legal Court to settle land disputes, To avoid this, one of the first questions you should ask before you buy land is the title on the land, you should also understand the key title documents that prove ownership of a property.
The following are basic Land Titles
- Certificate of Occupancy – This is a document that shows the owner has been given legal permission from the executive government of the state to occupy a property. It is mostly known as C of O. It is a very important land title, widely used to resolve land disputes that arise from ownership tussles. It is accepted as a security or collateral for loans from banks and other financial institutions.
- Governor’s Consent: This document is essential for your real estate transaction to be deemed legal, as the name implies it is a document that shows the governor’s approval of a land transaction. The initial owner of virgin land is qualified to obtain a C of O but every subsequent buyer of that land is required to get a governor’s consent because there can only be one owner of the certificate of occupancy.
- Gazette – Gazette also referred to as Gazetted excision is an excision that has been officially recorded and documented in the Official Gazette of the State government.
FREE HOLD VS GOVERNMENT ACQUISITION
Lands Naturally in Rural areas exist as Freeholds. A property becomes a freehold where the government has indicated no interest in the said property. Lands under freehold are not under acquisition and can be inherited by heirs of the owners and can be perfected to legally recognized land titles.
While land is considered under government acquisition where the government has an interest in the area for the purpose of urban development or industrialization projects.
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GLOBAL ACQUISITION VS COMMITTED ACQUISITION
A land under government acquisition can either be a global acquisition or a committed acquisition. A land with committed acquisition means the government has designated that parcel for a specific project as such those parcels of land can never be released to individuals or organizations for development projects.
Acquiring lands that are under committed acquisition will eventually lead to the loss of such investments when the government moves to take full possession of such a parcel of land. Whereas land under global acquisition does not have a specific government purpose yet and as such those parcels of land can later be free or committed as the case may be.
There are 2 main processes for making land under global acquisition to be free.
- Excision
- Ratification
Excision is simply a mode of compensation by which state governments release land to indigenous peoples or settlers following legal protocols and processes after the introduction of the Land Use Act. A grantee to whom a piece of land is excised to maintains ownership and control of the land within the confines of local laws and regulations.
To excise a land means to cut it. This is the process whereby the government releases a parcel of land back to the indigenous owners of such lands for the purpose of development. When this excised parcel of land is published in the government’s official gazette, the land becomes Gazette as the title.
Land Regularization (also known as Ratification) is carried out when an individual or corporate entity acquires land that belongs to the government. However, not all government lands can be regularized. Any land that will be regularized must not fall within a government-committed area and it must conform to the state’s urban planning regulations.
Regularization entails buying the land “properly” from the government. It is an expensive process because after buying the land from the “omonile” (seller) you still have to pay the government for the land again. After regularization, the government releases the land and issues a certificate of occupancy (C of O) to the applicant.
In order to avoid buying government land and spending far more money than necessary it is highly recommended that the status of the land is known before purchase. The process of knowing the status of the land is called Charting. Charting is a very important process in land matters and it is carried out by Registered Survey.
OTHER LAND DOCUMENTS
APPROVED SURVEY PLAN
A survey plan shows the geographical location, shape, and size of the landed property. With the descriptions and coordinates on the survey document, it is easier to check or search from the office of the Surveyor-General whether the land is actually under any government acquisition or not.
LAND PURCHASE RECEIPT
A land purchase receipt is a normal receipt or document reflecting the receipt of payment for a particular property or land. Usually, vendors issue a receipt to the buyer upon the sale of a property. However, the receipt may be obviated where the clause for receipt is contained in the document transferring the land.
DEED OF ASSIGNMENT
A deed of Assignment or Deed of Conveyance is used in sales transactions to permanently transfer a landed property from the seller (also known as assignor) to the buyer (also referred to as assignee). It may be drafted by the assignor and reviewed by the assignee or vice versa.
CONTRACT OF SALE
The contract of sale of land is used by parties to agree on some terms before the finalization of the transaction. It is relevant when any property is to be purchased by anyone. It is accompanied by other documents transferring title to the applicable property.
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Compiled by:
Realtor and Estate Consultant
+234 816 068 8839
realpathproperties@gmail.com
