Land measurement and title documents in Nigeria
- Hectare.
- Acre
- Plots
Title Documents you must know in real estate investment
- Survey plan
- Excision
- Gazette
- Deed of Assignment
- Certificate of Occupancy.
Land measurements are an important aspect of property ownership and development in Nigeria. This refers to the process of determining the exact size and boundaries of a piece of land. It is essential for property transactions, boundary disputes, and property development projects. The purpose of this blog is to provide a comprehensive understanding of land measurement and title documents in Nigeria.
Most people who purchase land in Lagos or elsewhere don’t really understand the meaning of these real estate terms. As a potential buyer wishing to buy land or build a new house, you must be familiar with a few of these figures. The first hurdle is to understand the system of land measurement and title documents in Nigeria. In Nigeria today land is measured in hectares, acres, meters and feet’s
These measurements are affected by factors that include development patterns and human and environmental factors.
Let’s start by asking; what is the size of a standard plot in Nigeria?
A size of a plot can vary for different reasons, but according to Nigeria’s land measurement and division, the appropriate plot for house construction is 60 feet by 120 feet, which can accommodate a standard house with a small compound. To better understand land measurement and division in Nigeria different units of area are used as follows:
- HECTARE: A hectare is one of the least known land measurement and one with which potential buyers seems to struggle with.
A hectare is a land measuring:
- 100m X 100 m OR
- 328ft X 328ft OR
- 10,000 sqm OR
- Two and a half acres OR
- 15 plots
- ACRES: An acre is a standard unit of land measurement used by land sellers, and it is almost equivalent to the size of a standard football field. An acre is the product of any rectangular plot of land , giving a total of
- 4,046sqm
- 43,560sqm
- 6 plots (each measuring 60ft by 120ft)
- PLOT: In Lagos state the standard size of plot is 60ft by 120ft (18m X 36m i e 648sqm) but most land owners now sell 50ft by 100ft ie 500sqm, while in some cities plots are measured at 50 ft by 100ft and this the most common measurement in Nigeria. With this i believe you now have a full idea about land measurement in Nigeria; now let’s move to title documents
TITLE DOCUMENTS YOU MUST KNOW IN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT
One of the first questions people ask when they want to buy a land is the Title on the land. They all ask even though not many of them understand what the different Titles are about. Some insist on buying a land with C of O even though they don’t have the budget for it. So this post is to help you understand the different titles there are and what is safe for you to buy. A land in Nigeria will have one of the following Titles:
SURVEY PLAN
A Survey plan is a document that measures the boundary of a parcel of land to give an accurate measurement and description of that land. The people that handle survey issues are Surveyors and they are regulated by the office of the Surveyor general in Lagos as it relates to survey issues in Lagos. A survey plan must contain the following information:
- The name of the owner of the land surveyed
- The Address or description of the land surveyed
- The size of the land surveyed
- The drawn out portion of the land survey and mapped out on the survey plan document
- The beacon numbers
- The surveyor who drew up the survey plan and the date it was drawn up
- A stamp showing the land is either free from Government acquisition or not
EXCISION
Land Use Decree on the 28th of March, 1978 that vested all lands in every state of the Federation under the control of the State Governors. The Land Use Act coupled with other laws made it possible for the Governor who was now the owner of all lands in the state to actually have the power to acquire more lands compulsorily for its own public purpose to provide amenities for the greater good of the citizens.
Fortunately, the government recognizes that indigenes of different sections of the country have a right to existence . . . a right to the land of their birth. Hence, it is customary for state government to cede a portion of land to the original owners (natives) of each area.
An Excision means basically taking apart from a whole and that part that has been excised will be recorded and documented in the official government gazette of that state.
GAZETTE
A Gazette is an Official record book where all special government details are spelt out, detailed and recorded
A gazette will show the communities or villages that have been granted excision and the number of acres or hectares of land that the government has given to them. It is within those excised acres or hectares that the traditional family is entitled to sell its lands to the public and not anything outside those hectares of land given or excised to them.
A Gazette is a very powerful instrument the community owns and can replace a Certificate of Occupancy to grant title to the Villagers. A community owning a gazette can only sell lands to an individual within those lands that have been excised to them and the community or family head of that land has the right to sign your documents for you if you purchase lands within those excised acres or hectares of land.
DEED OF ASSIGNMENT
A Deed of Assignment is an Agreement between the Seller of a Land or Property and a Buyer of that Land or property showing evidence that the Seller has transferred all his rights, his title, his interest and ownership of that land to that the Seller that has just bought land.
The Deed of Assignment has been exchanged between both parties, it has to be recorded in the land registry to show legal proof that the land has exchanged hands and the public should be aware of the transaction. Such recorded Deed of Assignment comes in the form of either a Governor’s Consent or _Registered Conveyance
- The parties to the agreement (Names of buyer and seller).
- Addresses of the parties and how it is binding on their representatives in all capacities.
- The land’s history from the earliest acquisition up until its most recent sale, including all documents.
- The agreed cost of the land with the seller’s intention to accept the cost.
- Size and description of the land to be transferred.
- Word of honour among both parties to perfect the transfer of the document.
- The signature of both parties, as well as witnesses to the transaction.
- Commissioner of Oaths signature or Governor’s Consent, which validates the agreement.
Don’t also complete the transaction without this document. Omonile (Land grabbers) always try to trick people out of this document to enable them to resell the same property unhindered. Be wise.
CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY
A Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) issued by the Lagos State Government officially leases Lagos land to you, the applicant, for 99 yrs. As already indicated above, all lands belong to the Government.
A C of O however is the officially recognized Document for demonstrating Right to a Land.
What happens after 99 years? That question is still subject of debate among experts. Most have adopted a wait-and-see attitude. Others postulate that as the new owner of the land, you the buyer, can renew the certificate of occupancy when it expires. That makes sense, but for now is largely a case of “We shall see when we get there”.
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