If you are thinking of buying an apartment or a piece of land for either residential or business purposes, you need to complete the following legal requirements.
Confirm the record of rights from the Land OfficeLand administration system in Bangladesh separates records of ownership and records of revenue as such. We have Land Records Offices for land records, surveys, publication and maintenance of records under the directorate of land records and survey, Ministry of Land.
We also have Land Revenue Offices under Ministry of Land. There are 11 administrative offices in each upazila (sub district). There are 64 districts in Bangladesh but only 61 of them have registration facility.
Three hill districts do not have registration centres. In Dhaka, the district land registration office has 13 Sub-registrar offices under the Ministry of Law.
Conduct mutation on propertyAny transfers of titles subsequent to the last survey on Dhaka city must be converted (mutated) to the lat-est survey. From January 2012 city surveys are conducted in Dhaka city instead of conducting Revisional Survey (RS) mutation. This is done by the assistant commissioner of lands (Tahsil) and specific Tahsil offic-es.
In order to obtain this, an application is required to be made to the concerned assistant commissioner of land with particulars of the property. The assistant commissioner will forward the same to the concerned Tahsil office who are responsible for conducting the relevant survey and providing a report to assistant commissioner of land.
Upon receiving the report, the assistant commissioner of land renders the mutation certificate. From Janu-ary 1, 2012 all properties automatically come under City Survey Khatian (Record of rights).
Obtain inspection for RS mutationThe permission is only mandatory when the property is under the control of either the Ministry of Works (National Housing Authority) or Rajuk (Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkh). Although the permission is usually granted barring exceptions, unofficial payments are still paid in order to expedite the process and guaran-tee approval.
The buyer should make sure that the property is up to date with payments to the city corporation revenue department, gas utility service, electricity utility service, and the water utility service to make sure that there is no outstanding dues payable so that those liabilities do not transfer to him. These are standard steps and not mandatory for registration.
Obtain the non-encumbrance certificate from the relevant sub-registry officeThe buyer should check the legal status of the land (mortgaged or leased or ownership) at the relevant Sub-registry office. From January 2012 onwards, both Sub-registry and Land Revenue Offices provide non-encumbrance certificates. Sometimes land report is required.
A land report gives an idea about the current status and ownership of the land that may include chain of ownership, land tax, land record, registry status etc, whereas a non-encumbrance certificate is used in property transactions as an evidence of entitlement of the property.
Prepare deed of transfer and pay stamp dutyA lawyer may prepare the transfer deed, but it can also be prepared by the parties themselves. The deed must be prepared in stamped paper that should cost 3% of the property value to get it. This represents the stamp duty.
Pay capital gains tax, registration fee, VAT and other taxes at a designated bankRegistration fee is payable to the bank in favour of the sub-registry office and the receipt is to be present-ed at the moment of applying for registration.
The buyer has to pay the local government tax to the concerned city corporation or municipality offices. Furthermore, a capital gains tax (CGT) and a VAT of 1.5% (applicable only for municipal corporation area payable by private housing and flat developers and commercial businesses) have to be paid at this stage. Capital gains tax is not applicable in rural areas for agriculture.
Apply for registration at the relevant Sub-registryAt this stage, the buyer may apply for registration at the Municipal Deed Registry Office, presenting the receipts of payment of the registration and other fees. A certified registration document is obtained within a week for the buyer’s record. The original sale deed/certificate requires about six months to be obtained.
Register the change in ownership at the Land Revenue OfficeThe change of ownership must be registered in the Land Revenue Office. The property is recorded under the name of the new owner, who is responsible for paying the land taxes from the day the property is transferred.
Source:
http://www.dhakatribune.com/law-amp-rights/2013/aug/07/buying-plot-or-flat#sthash.wCTSeadc.dpuf
