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In our last publication, we discussed how you can invest and benefit from participating in real estate. Today we will be talking about the essential documentations you need to be aware about when dealing in real estate in Nigeria. We hope you enjoy this article!
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO OWN LAND IN NIGERIA?
In Nigeria, the Land Use Act of 1978 guides the ownership and use of land and its resources. The Act vests all land in each state of Nigeria to the Governor of each state as a custodian or trustee of all the land on behalf of the people. The Governor has the right to give and acquire land for developments in trust of the people and the state in general. In other words, the Governor of every state is the custodian of all the land in a state. This decision was taken so that the state can control the use of land resources in a state.
Furthermore, for any transaction that involves land in a state, the governor has to be aware of it. The Governor of a state is the one that issues title to land. These titles include Excision, Gazette and Certificate of Occupancy (Popularly known as C of O). We will explain the meaning of all these documents below.
Now that you know this information above, are you thinking of buying a land soon? Here are some essential lands document you need to know about.
WHAT ARE THE ESSENTIAL DOCUMENTATIONS YOU NEED TO KNOW WHEN DEALING IN REAL ESTATE IN NIGERIA?
The most essential documents when dealing in real estate in Nigeria includes;
- LAND SURVEY: When buying a land in Nigeria, the first document you should ask the vendor or seller of the land is a document known as survey, which shows the particular land the vendor or seller wants to sell to you. In other words, you must know what the seller wants to sell to you. In real estate this is done through a survey.
- TITLE DOCUMENTS: The next documents you need to ask about before you make payment for any land in Nigeria, is the title documents covering the proposed land for sale. These title documents includes;
- EXCISION: This title document is the beginning title document for a land. What does it mean? If a land has an excision as title documents, it means the government has excised or in plain language, the government has removed or cut out the land for the owner or owners of the land. Make sure you do your due diligence to verify this Excision document.
- GAZETTE: The next title document is known as GAZETTE. A gazette is a government official document. It is used to publish the decisions and actions of government. When excision has been given to a person, a group of people or community this excision is published in a gazette by the government. It is a better and more powerful title document than Excision.
- CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY (C of O): The next title document that we will be looking at is called Certificate of Occupancy, popularly known as C of O. When government has published a gazette showing that a portion of land has been giving to an individual, group of people or communities, the people who this gazette is their favor can apply to state government for a C of O. The government will subsequently issue a C of O in their favor.
- GOVERNOR’S CONSENT: A Governor’s Consent is another title document that emanates from a C of O. When a C of O has been given to a particular, person, persons or community, the owners of this C of O can now start selling the land to third parties. This is done through a Deed of Assignment, a document which is used to transfer the right of over a property from one person to another. It is this document that is taken by the new buyer to the State Government; where he or she is issued a Governor’s Consent on his or her Deed showing that the government is aware and have authorized the transaction.
- CONTRACT OF SALE: Another important document in a land transaction in Nigeria is a Contract of Sale. A Contract of Sale is an agreement document that shows the buying and selling of a property between two people. This document is very important and essential because establishes evidence of business relationship between two or more people.
- LAND RECEIPT: A land purchase receipt is another essential document that is necessary in land transaction. It shows the transfer of value or something i.e. money, shares or properties between two or more people. In other words, it shows the payment made by the purchaser for the land in question. This payment can be monetary or other things of value.
- DEED OF ASSIGNMENT: Lastly, the last essential document we will be looking at is called a Deed of Assignment. As explained earlier, a Deed of Assignment is a document which serves as evidence and shows the transaction between two or more people. It is a document used to transfer the right to land from one person to the other. This document after been signed by both parties is taken by the new buyer to the State Government; where he or she is issued a Governor’s Consent on his or her Deed showing that the government is aware and have authorized the transaction.
Till we come your way next week with more real estate insights, goodbye for now from all of us at Riveton Homes & Properties. For more information on how you can start investing in real estate, kindly call us on 07042409999 /07042099918 or send us a DM on all our social media handles @rivetonhomes