Title to Land and the use of land in Nigeria is governed by the Land Use Act (Cap. L5, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004) (“the Act”).
The Act entrusts all land in urban area of each state, to the State Governor, while land in rural area is vested in the Local government within their area of jurisdiction (this excludes land vested in the Federal Government).
This Act was meant to standardize land administration in the Country.
Why Invest In Nigerian Real Estate? First ask, what is Real Estate?
Real estate simply means the buying or leasing of properties that are residential or commercial. Properties like Flats, terrace apartments, detached houses,maisonettes, Condos, warehouses, office buildings, shopping malls, parking lots to name a few.
Why invest in Nigerian Real Estate you ask? Here are 7 reasons why people invest in real estate;
Decluttering your home is not as difficult as it may seem, let’s be honest everyone has clutter in their homes whether we want to admit it or not. A cluttered home is not just toxic for your health it can lead to stress. Here are simple steps to help declutter your home from the living room to the kitchen.
How do we begin
Let us start with the living room, it is usually the first place your guests walk into, and can come off as disorganized or messy if there are excess amounts of items. Here are steps to making your living room look put together and sophisticated.
The bedroom is the second most important area in the home and a perfect way to start getting it organised, is by removing the piles of clothes in it and cleaning out the closets. Here are also steps to making your bedroom clutter free;
After the bedroom, for those with children their room is yet another major clutter zone. In three steps you can declutter their room, first
Now the bathroom, let’s face it— you haven’t used some products in your cabinet in months, dispose of them.
Take a few minutes out of your day to organize and declutter the final room in your home, the kitchen.
You are now an expert in organizing each room in your home, from tackling your living room mess to removing unnecessary items from your kitchen or cleaning out your bathroom.
A Decluttered Home
Generally before you engage in any land purchase, you need proof of ownership from the vendor, to ensure that he is the rightful owner of the said property and that he has can actually assign title to you as a purchaser. Usually, these documents are sufficient to prove title – Certificate of Occupancy, Deed of Assignment or Deed of Conveyance, Registered Title or Court Vesting Order.
After physical siting those documents and/or obtaining copies, as a would be purchaser, you need to be 100% convinced that – the documents are valid, that the vendor is who he says he is, that there are no encumbrances on the property, that the property described is what is being sold and that there are no disputes on the property. Thus, due diligence searches should first and foremost be conducted in the following places:
For properties located in highbrow areas or to be purchased from influential individuals, investigate the profile of the vendors to ascertain such persons are not wanted by government agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
However, after all is said and done, there are some property which do not have any documentation. Usually family or communal property in remote areas, who have not perfected their title. Even when a search is conducted, nothing of significance might be revealed. Here, investigation conducted will rely on traditional evidence i.e. – inquiry of traditional leaders, community heads and family heads, etc. This is usually arises and validity is given by the “deemed grant of right of occupancy, where the individual has occupied the land prior to the coming of the Land Use Act of 1978. They could be deemed as customary landowners. So, although the owner might not have a deed of assignment or certificate of occupancy, his ownership of the land cannot be defeated except it is expressly revoked by the state governor.
After your due diligence has been conducted, you are satisfied with the result of your search and ascertained that the vendor has a good title to the land, the next step is the transfer of title from the vendor to the purchaser. One common and vital document in property purchase is the Deed of Assignment which is used in assigning interest in law
The Deed of assignment can be prepared by the purchaser’s solicitor and vetted by the vendor or his solicitor after which the documents would be executed by parties and their witnesses. At this stage any the agreed purchase price would be paid by the Purchaser.
This is a very critical part of land purchase activity. These include application for Governor’s consent, payment of stamp duties and registration of conveyance or assignment at the Lands Registry. This is done in order to ensure compliance with the law and protect the validity of the purchaser’s title to the property.
However, it is important to note that the mere issuance of a Certificates of Occupancy does not and cannot confer title in respect of the land in dispute where no such title either existed or was available to be transferred to anyone.
The purchase of a land is generally a risky business. Buyers need to beware and sceptical about every transaction.
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