Buying land in Nigeria or anywhere in the world is a noble investment practice. However, it requires that you put in some work to properly verify the land you are buying. Properly verifying the genuineness of the land means that you will save yourself from being sold a piece of land that is either disputed or has government interest on it, and also, you will be able to identify the kind of document or title attached to the property.

Before you buy land in Nigeria, you have to take the following steps:

1. What kind of land do you want to buy?

You have to first of all determine the kind of land you are interested in buying. This may include the size of the land, the location. Also, try and avoid any land that is under government acquisition.

2. What is your budget for the land?

One salient question you must answer when buying land in Nigeria is, what is your budget for land? Depending on your location of choice, the prices of land in various locations differ. Determine how much you are willing to pay for a parcel of land and then try to look for locations within the budget.

3. Go and inspect the land:

This is a very important step that many land buyers overlook. Even if you are not in Nigeria physically, make sure that you have someone you trust, either a relative, go and physically inspect the land for you. If you trust your agent, you can ask them to go and help you inspect it. Bottom-line, before you pay a penny for any land, make sure you have inspected it.

4. Go to the land registry and do a search on the land:

This is a serious step to take. Not taking this step has cost many people their hard earned money. Doing a search is essential to determine the genuineness of the document or title presented to you. It also helps you determine the authenticity of the seller, whether they are the actual owner of the property. You will also be able to find out the type of land documentation that has been done for the property on sale. If a piece of land is under government acquisition or in dispute, conducting a search will reveal that to you.

5. Complete or execute the deed of assignment:

Executing the deed of assignment happens when both the buyer and the seller sign the Deed of Assignment and payment for the land is made by the buyer. Always make sure the signatures are in place before making any payment.

6. Get the certified true copies of the land documents from the seller:

Make sure the documents or title, and the survey plan of the property that you receive are certified true copies. The search you conducted is a good way to verify the authenticity of the documents.

7. Make the necessary payments (charting fee, endorsement fee and form 1C):

At the current rate in Lagos state, paying for charting, endorsement and Form 1C costs of N10,500. This payment is made to the Lagos state government. To perfect your documents, especially when applying for Governor’s Consent.

8. Process Governor’s Consent:

Here are a few steps that you need to take when processing a Governor’s Consent. You should bear in mind that if there are issues in your existing documents, it could affect the process of getting a consent:

Form 1C must be properly filled, signed by both the buyer and the seller and correctly dated. This form has to be notarized.
Get a cover letter for Governor’s Consent application
Provide certified true copies of the property title document
A fee of N10,500 for charting, endorsement and form 1C payable to the Lagos state government.
Four copies of both the survey plan and the deed of assignment
Present a photograph of the property
Tax clearance certificates of both the buyer and the seller

9. Payment of other fees:

After the investigation and true valuation of the property is satisfactorily verified, the applicant is then informed how much to pay for the consent fees, registration fees, capital gains tax and stamp duty.

10. Obtaining title and stamping of deed of assignment:

After payment of other fees as mentioned above, the applicant obtains title from the land services department and stamps the deed of assignment.

11. Registration of the deed and the title granted:

The deed of assignment which has been stamped, along with attached receipts and pay slips which confirm payment, is then filed with the Land Registry

What to look out for before buying land in Nigeria?

There are few but very important things to look out for before buying land in Nigeria in order to ascertain that the investment is worth it. Here are 5 of them:

Read: 12 Critical Questions to ask when buying a property in Nigeria

1. Location:

This is the number one thing to consider before buying land in Nigeria. The knowledge of the location you want to invest in helps you plan your budget – this is because some locations are more expensive than others. The value of a property is mostly tied to its location. The value of a plot of land in Ikoyi, Lagos is much higher than the value of the same size of land in Ikorodu, Lagos.

Also, to maximize your investment, you should look out for fast developing areas. Ibeju Lekki in Lagos, for example, is a fast developing area in Lagos because of the numerous government and private infrastructure like the Dangote Refinery, Lekki Free Trade Zone, Lekki Seaport and so on.

A second area worth investing in in Lagos, due to its promising prospects and the rapid development, is Epe. Projects like the Lagos Film City, Lekki international Airport, Lagos State Food Security and Logistics Hub, among others, make Epe a very hot place to invest your money.

2. Landmarks and Environment:

What kind of environment are you moving to? What kind of neighborhood is it? What are the landmarks in the environment? Do these landmarks have the potential to raise the value of your investment? What kind of projects, either government or private, are going on in the area. All these will help to inform your decision when buying land in Nigeria, and also help you understand the prospect of the area a few years down the line.

3. Is the road accessible?

Find out if the property you are about to buy is accessible. How is the road that leads into it? Is it motorable? Take a look at the layout plan, have the road marks on the plan been respected, or have people constructed houses on the road? What about canals, are there buildings on canals? If the road is not accessible, maybe you should hold on with investing in such an area until it is accessible. Also, be sure the property for sale is not on a canal or even near a canal to avoid government action in the future

4. How secure is the environment?

How secure is the location? Has the government provided any form of security for them, or do they have a constituted security group (local vigilante)? Find out the crime rate and security challenges they have in that location. You can ask the locals living there – these are the ones to give you the right information. Security is an essential factor to consider when buying land in Nigeria.

5. Verify important documents for land purchase:

As discussed above, always check that the land you are buying has good and authentic documents. You can go to the land registry and check if the land is real in Nigeria, and also, if the name on the documents belongs to the actual seller.

You should also read: 12 Critical questions to ask when buying a property in Nigeria!

How do I change ownership of land in Nigeria:

You can change ownership of a property through a Deed of Assignment, prepared by a legal practitioner and executed by both parties (in this case, the buyer and the seller).

What is a Deed of Assignment?

A Deed of Assignment is a legal document which transfers a property ownership from one party (called assigner) to another (called assignee).

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