Lawyer cautions on need for due diligence before buying land

Mapange Nsapato, a lawyer, has encouraged people interested in buying land to first conduct due diligence before buying it.

Nsapato said citizens must first conduct a search at the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to ascertain that the land existed.

Nsapato, at an event held at The Quorum recently in Lusaka, said that there was also need to conduct a physical inspection of the property.

“The key things to look out when buying land in Zambia is to find out the type of land because here we have group, individual and intellectual property. The next step is to conduct diligence before buying land.

“When the deal is completed make sure to use the bank for transactions because one can be easily traced. Most fraudsters will avoid bank transactions purchasing because it gives a trail,” he said.

Nsapato said one should also consider using an independent person to verify the property.

He also said there was need to look at the land policy to consider traditional land as collateral to access funding from banks.

Read more: Panic grips citizens over government order on clean up of land data before access to services

Nsapato said currently only land on title is considered by banks as collateral to access funding from financial institutions.

At the same event, Time Projects Zambia Director, Heinrich Malan, said one of the key signs that an economy was flourishing in Africa was the number of new developments happening.

Malan said this was a signal that things are stable and investors have confidence in the economy’s future.

“Currently, we see a number of developments happening post-COVID-19 but the challenge is rentals which are charged in dollar and high occupancy levels among others,” he said.

Malan said other challenges faced by the industry are high cost of money, building materials and shorter tenure to pay back the money.

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