Buying Property in St. Lucia
Foreign individuals and companies wishing to purchase property in St.Lucia are required to first obtain an Alien’s Landholding Licence. Whilst the application for the licence can be made by the Applicant, a local attorney is usually retained as the licence, once granted, needs to be registered in the Land Registry by an attorney. Once the licence has been obtained by a prospective purchaser, the property can be immediately conveyed. Typically all applicants will obtain the licence upon application unless a police certificate reflects prior criminal convictions. The following information is to be noted:
- There is a non-refundable application fee of EC$1,500 (US$560.00).
- The licence is a permanent licence which does not require renewal.
- It is not transferable.
- It is granted in respect of a specific property or lot of land and thus a person seeking to purchase different properties over a period of time would have to apply for a licence on each occasion.
- The licence issue fee for properties measuring less than one acre is EC$5,000.00 (US$1,860.00) and for properties measuring an acre or more EC$10,000 (US$3,750.00).
- Licence applications are usually made at the beginning of the property purchasing process (often upon the signing of an agreement for sale) and take approximately 4-6 weeks to process. Once the application is processed by the Ministry of Physical Development and approved, a draft licence is sent by the Applicant’s attorney to the Attorney General’s Chambers for approval. Once approved, the licence is prepared and sent to the Prime Minister’s office for signature. Once signed, the licence is then sent to the Land Registry to be registered as the registration details of the licence must be entered on the Deed of Sale conveying the property into the name of the newly licensed purchaser. The usual time frame from application to registration of the licence is approximately 3-4 months.
♦ Completed alien’s licence application form
♦ Map Sheet of the property
♦ Land Register of the property
♦ Survey plan of the property
♦ A recent valuation of the property
♦ Completed tax account application form
♦ Signed agreement for sale between Vendor and Purchaser
♦ Statutory declarations by applicant indicating no previous convictions
♦ Four notarised passport-sized photographs
♦ Police certificate of character or Extract of non-conviction from applicant’s local police station
♦ Employment/job letter indicating nature and duration of position
♦ Banker’s reference
♦ Certified fingerprints from a police station
A Deed of Sale conveying the property to the Purchaser must be executed in St.Lucia before an Attorney qualified to practise in St.Lucia. Notarial fees for such conveyance range between 3-5% of the value of the property. Stamp duty is payable by the Purchaser to the Government in the amount of 2% of the value of the property being conveyed. Searches of the property and registration of the alien’s licence and Deed of Sale cost approximately EC$150.00. There is a 10% Vendor’s Tax payable to the Government upon a resale of the property. This calculation is based upon the price at which the property is being re-sold.
Before commencing construction on any property purchased, approval must first be obtained from the Development Control Authority in terms of the proposed structure to be erected thereon.
