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About Land Statutory Charge And Estate Development Levy

• Posted by Karo Itoje in Blog Updates, Land Tips and Advice
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When making enquiry about our estates, some have asked: Hope there are no hidden charges?

Well there are no “hidden” charges.

If you’re buying a land in any estate there are three extra fees aside the cost of the land that you will be required to pay. But they are usually clearly stated in the terms and condition of sale that you are required to read and sign before your application will be processed, therefore these charges are not hidden. Two of them, Survey fee and Deed of Assignment fee are what we refer to as statutory charge.

A statutory charge is a way to register an interest over a property.

The third fee is development levy.

So what are these fees about and why do you have to pay them? That’s what this article is about.

I have had a few clients who were not aware of these fees and therefore were taking aback when I told them about it. Also the high development levy charged by some estate companies are becoming a problem for some people who desire to buy into a particular estate. That is why I decided to write this article to explain in detail why all these fees and why they vary from developer to developer, as I know people are more accepting of a charge when they fully understand the details behind it.

Land Statutory Charge

Statutory charge are required by law/government during the transaction of a land or property. When a land move from one owner to another, Deed of Assignment and Survey has to be ordered for. So regardless of whether you buy the land from Omonile or estate developer, you will still need to pay both fees and get both documents.

Deed of Assignment

A deed of Assignment is an Agreement between the Seller of a Land or Property and a Buyer of that Land or property showing evidence that the Seller has transferred all his rights, his title, his interest and ownership of that land to that the Buyer that has just bought the land.

The Deed of Assignment acts as the main document between the buyer and seller to show proof of ownership in favour of the buyer. The person or Seller who transfers his rights or interests in that property is usually called the Assignor and the person who receives such right or interest from the Seller is called the Assignee.

A Deed of Assignment therefore is an Agreement where an assignor states his promise that from the date of the assignment or any date stipulated therein, the assignor assigns his ownership in that Land to the assignee. The deed contains very pertinent information for a real estate transaction. For one, it spells out the date when the ownership of the property transfers from one owner to the other. The deed also gives a specific description of the property that is included in the transfer of ownership.

Deed of Assignment is drawn up by a lawyer and signed by both the seller and the buyer of the land or property. So the Deed of Assignment fee which is usually between N50, 000 and N250,000 depending on the cost of the land or property being sold is for the lawyer who draws up the Deed not for Omonile or the estate developers.

Can’t my lawyer draw up the Deed? No. And that’s for the simple reason that a Deed of Assignment is a document meant to be given to the buyer from the Seller. So it only makes sense that their lawyer draws it up and you read and sign. 

For more info on Deed of Assignment, watch the video below on the most important document in a property transaction in Nigeria.

 

Survey Plan

A Survey plan is a document that measures the boundary of a parcel of land to give an accurate measurement and description of that land. The people that draw up a survey plan are known as Surveyors and they are regulated by the office of the Surveyor general in Lagos as it relates to survey issues in Lagos.

Survey fee varies from local government to local government. Formerly Survey for Ibeju Lekki Lagos was only N150k. But sometime ago the cost of survey was increased across Lagos. And now the minimum cost of Survey in Ibeju Lekki is N400k per plot. But most developers are able to discount it for N350k per plot and give much more discount for multiple plots. Places like Eti-Osa local government (Ajah, Sangotedo, Abijo) cost a bit more.

Read: Is It True That Surveys Are Done Per Plot?

Can I use my own surveyor? No, estate developers don’t allow it. And that’s because they like to keep things organized and moving quickly for your land to be allocated. Both the Deed of Assignment and Survey are two documents you will have to pay for before your land is allocated to you as you have to be given both documents latest on the day of allocation.

However, what is allowed is if when doing a Land Search you want your surveyor to go to the site and take the site coordinates for the Search on the land just to make sure they are accurate.

You should know that there’s provisional survey and there’s registered survey. I discussed these two types of survey in the video below.

Estate Development Levy

Estate development levy is a charge that developers ask of people who bought into an estate to use in providing infrastructures and amenities for the estate. The amount varies from developer to developer and the reason is simple. The infrastructures and amenities the developer plans to provide for the estate often determines how much they charge.

Currently the development levy among our partners estates ranges from N300,000 to as high as N5million per plot. I bet your mouth is wide open right now hearing N5million 🙂 but let me explain.

All estates are not created equal. There are serviced estates and there are unserviced estates. Even serviced estates are not created equal. For example a lot of Nigerians abroad contact me about Amen estate. Why is Amen estate so popular? It is because of the infrastructures  and amenities available in the estate. All wiring were done underground. Street lights. Well done drainage. High tech security and more.

When you are used to a certain living lifestyle or desire a certain living lifestyle the only way to achieve that in Nigeria is to buy into a luxury estate. And class and luxury requires a lot of money.

At least 95% of our partners estates in Ibeju Lekki require only N300,000 for development levy. And that’s great! However what many don’t pay attention to is the infrastructures that money covers. For most of the estates with N300k development levy the promised infrastructure only include Perimeter fencing, Gate house, Earth road (road not tarred or interlocked) and Electricity. That’s what the N300,000 is for. But for estates that charge you N3million+ their infrastructure and amenities looks like what I have below:

A standard estate should actually provide all the above. But the reason many don’t is because they don’t want to trouble themselves. Many estate developers just want to sell land, collect their money, cut out the roads in the estate, do perimeter fencing and gating, bring electricity to the estate and be done with it. There’s also the issue of target market. For example all our estates that have N300k as development levy sell for between N500k and N700k a plot. So how will someone buy a land for less than a million and you ask them to pay an extra few millions for infrastructure and amenities. People who are looking for cheap lands are usually not looking for luxury. In fact they only buy into an estate because they don’t want Omonile wahala.

But any estate that is selling a land for N10million and above won’t be doing you justice if they don’t do everything necessary to make it a standard estate. And a standard estate should have perimeter fencing with electric wiring and gating, drainage, interlocked roads, sport and recreation center, swimming pool, treated water, security cameras, electricity and street lights and decor.

Also keep in mind that good infrastructures and amenities in an estate will have a big effect on price appreciation of the land/property. Whether or not you’re banking your land, you should care about the worth of your land or house in a few years time. If your land or property doesn’t appreciate after a few years then you’ve wasted your time investing as you could have just left your money in the bank and get the 3% on savings.

You don’t have to worry about the high fee. No developer charging N3million and above for development levy will require you to pay the money immediately. In fact most of them don’t bother you about it until you want to start developing your land. And others let you make an initial deposit and pay the rest on installment, up to 30 months if you want.

 

Read more about our beautiful East Amber Estate Abijo GRA.