Indenture, Site Plan, and Land Title Certificate are documents related to land transactions in Ghana. Below is the simple explanation of each and their relevance in land transactions:
1. Site Plan – this is document or printed map showing your land. This is generated by a surveyor using a surveying machine to pick the coordinates of the various endpoints of your the land in question on the ground.
Features of a site plan: it must show the bearing, connected drawn lines depicting the shape of the land, dimensions (feet, yards meters etc), location, where a road pass for the land (if any), the compass direction (cardinal point – the North). This is also the document you need to conduct search on the land at Lands Commission of Ghana to determine who owns the land or otherwise.
If the site plan is needed for officials use, it must be signed by a licensed surveyor and dated.
2. Indenture – this is the agreement that spells out the terms and conditions under which the land is being given out and the purpose for use. It is the primary agreement between the seller (lessor) and the buyer (lessee).
The document also captures the history of transactions (who registered the land first, who settled on the land first, various court cases or judgement affected by the lands etc) on the land call “Schedule of the land”. It must also make reference to the site plan generated for you.
Your indenture must be signed by the lessors and the leasee. If the land is being sold (leased) to you by a company – the directors of that company must sign; if the land belongs to a family – the family head must sign; if the land belongs to a chieftaincy stool – the chief must sign; if the land belongs to an individual- that person must sign and finally if it belongs to the state – the government representatives (the Head of Lands Commission) must sign.
The indenture also specifies the number of years the land is being leased to you and whether is free-hold or lease-hold (subject to renewal)
3. Land Title Certificate – This is the proof of legal ownership from the state. This is the final document proofing the ownership of the land.
To get a Land Title Certificate on your land, you must submit your indenture which includes the site plan to the Lands Commission of Ghana for valuation. Once valuation is done, you are given an amount to pay as a stamp duty (tax), then you pay for the registration and other statutory fees.
Land Tittle Certificate is however not applicable in all regions of Ghana at the moment. Most of the regions having Land Certificate as the last document on land are Greater Accra, Greater Kumasi, Cape Coast. The other regions are “Dead Of Assignment”.
By: Mawuli Korsi Senyo, Real Estate Developer & Consultant
Email: senyo@sencodevelopers.com
