Cape Verde

Registering Property in

Cape Verde

Listed below is a detailed summary of the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute.

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Standard Property Transfer

  • Property Value: CVE 12,822,858.93
  • City: Praia

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
* 1 Carry out Land Charges search at the Land Registry Offices

The lawyer will conduct a search to obtain the Land Registry Certificate (certidão do Registro Predial) confirming that the seller has ownership of the property and has exclusive legal rights to sell the property. This certificate will also show any charges against this property. The title is valid for 1 year.

Agency: Land Registry 		7 days (simultaneous with procedure 2) CVE 300
* 2 Carry out searches at the Municipality

It is necessary to obtain two certificates at the Municipality. These searches are carried by the lawyer.
(i) "Planta de Localizacao" (official map with the property's exact location) and the
(ii) "Certidao Matricial" (tax information certificate). It includes the value of the property plus information on who owns the property.


Agency: Municipality 		7 days (simultaneous with procedure 1) CVE 1000
3 Parties sign the Promissory Contract of Purchase and Sale

The contract can be written by anyone. The parties can write it themselves if they want but they normally contract a lawyer to draft it. Both parties sign the promissory contract (Contrato Promessa de Compra e Venta) thus committing to the transaction. This agreement will provide the terms of the sale, property details and price. Normally the buyer pays a deposit of 10% to 30% of the price value when signing this contract.

Agency: Lawyer's office 		1 - 2 days CVE 70,000 (lawyer’s fees)
4 Sign the deed of conveyance

The public deed can be done with any notary. It will be necessary for each company to provide a copy of the minutes of the meeting where it was decided that the company can buy or sell the property.
According to Decreto Lei nº 70/2009, de 30 de Dezembro, Section II, Notarioado, Article 20 and in section III, Registro predial, Article 21, the notary cost and the registration fees were both reduced from a percentage to a fixed rate.


Agency: Notary public office 		5 days CVE 15, 958 (including stamp duty—paid by the buyer)
5 Pay property transfer tax (IUP) and register the new owner at the Municipality

The IUP can be paid at any time as long as it done within 30 days of the date of public deed. It is necessary to submit the IUP payment proof to register the deed.

Agency: Municipality 		1 day 3% of property value for IUP + CVE 1,000 (Municipality registration fee)
6 Register the new public deed at the property registry (certidão do Registro Predial)

There is no provisional registration, unless there is some problem with the property, but in general that does not happen. Registration is not mandatory. However, if one wants to sell the property through a public deed one must register the property first.

Agency: Land registry 		15 days CVE 21,000 for the registration fee
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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