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The Dilemma of The Developer and the Way Forward

The Dilemma of The Developer and the Way Forward

Ghana, on a viable pathway to achieve tenure security and greater efficiency in land administration and despite the land administration reforms being implemented, the subject of land dispute resolution has received relatively less attention. 

Customary tenure institutions which play a central role in land administration [ controlling about 80% of all land in Ghana] are not part of the formal dispute adjudicatory process leading to the role of the state conflicting that of the customary authorities. 

This creates hurdles for land owners or developers in the light of a misunderstanding where a parcel of land has been sold or leased to multiple buyers. 

The first issue is that when the state places itself both within and outside planning laws to enforce eminent powers to re-lease already leased land from one buyer to another and refuse to pay compensation, it discourages the developer from undertaking further projects. 

Secondly, the co-existence of customary land laws and statutory laws being sovereign keepers of their own seems to make work cumbersome for developers.        

One has to undergo a series of steps in respect of both laws where most of the steps are not documented, especially the customary laws, leading to a double deregulated land market.     

This dual legal land rules to declare property ownership, enclaves of value and zones of exception in planning results in real estate developers confront colonial vestiges of legal land systems leading to contestation ensuing betweencustomary landowners and the state creating parallel legal land systems, therefore breeding a gap with understanding of laws that no longer exist.             

The customary and statutory interest in land also present ‘informal-formal’ processes on land ownership and use; land rights can be obtained and transferred informally through land markets but the titling, registration and decisions like zoning and building permits must adhere to statutory land planning processes and that becomes time consuming.            

This sometimes redirects the decision of the developer to either abort the project or settle for a less time-consuming venture.         Most times, chiefs are blamed for land tenure insecurities. But responses from a store-building contractor who also doubles as property owner revealed several factors within the land sector. 

The questions sought to unearth the challenges which confront land stakeholders in the local market. 

The contractor noted that the issue of “blame game” based on the legitimate power given to chiefs and government officials in Ghana, the position of these individuals both traditional and government institutions are most likely to be traditionally and politically powerful to influence decisions.     

He opined that, the state’s refusal to interfere in chieftaincy issues, the insecure nature of owning land; and the fear of land brokers staking over land transactions are the major.     

Aside from the challenge of the long and cumbersome registration process for land acquisition, the high cost of building materials is another worry of contractors, since about 70% of building materials are imported. 

Most buildingmaterials are not manufactured locally and since import duties are so high, builders frequently have to buy these materials at higher costs, he further observed. 

He again expressed worry about how the local indigenous companies compete with foreign companies for even housing projects.

Real Estate Times Africa (RET Africa) also spoke with some infrastructural developers around the circle- Obetsebi road and they indicated that most of the projects are funded either through aid, personally pre-funded by contractors as well as public-private partnership. 

The Way Forward These challenges can be mitigated if the state and stakeholders develop comprehensive guidelines which include third party lease contracts to guide the decisions in the lease of land for large scale projects.     

Land dispute resolution must receive a lot of attention from stakeholders and the government in terms of education and sensitization. 

There ought to also be a reconciliation of the customary and statutory land ownership laws in order to do away with some of the overlaps that make the process very cumbersome. 

In addition, local manufacturers should be encouraged and investment should be made in the production of quality and durable building materials to help developers reduce the cost of projects. 

Finally, the introduction of a well structured laid down procedure with land registration, it will help deal with the current challenges of land ownership andconstruction and help eradicate the stress and pressure the developer and landlords face

 

Source: Sophia Vanderpuije(Real Estate Times Africa)

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