Congo, Dem. Rep.

Registering Property in

Congo, Dem. Rep.

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: CDF 8,189,286.25
  • City: Kinshasa

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Sale deed authenticated by the Property Registrar and application made for replacement of registration certificate

Registrar of Property (Conservateur des Titres Fonciers)
Comment: The parties present the sale agreement to the Registrar (Conservateur) acting as a notary, for its authentication. Simultaneously the parties apply for replacement of the registration certificate at the Registry Office. The buyer submits both the registration certificate and the concession certificate to the “Conservateur des Titres Immobiliers” (Registry Office) to check their validity. Since 1973, the law has allowed for the Registrar to act as notary for the specific purpose of registering property titles. This is standard practice. The Conservateur will establish a “Note de Frais” which the buyer must give to the DGRAD agent located in the Registry. The Agent will establish a “Note de perception’ to be paid at the bank.

The old record on the registration book is voided with a stamp, adding a comment indicating the reasons of the voidance as well as the date and number of the new certificate.


Agency: Registrar of Property (Conservateur des Titres Fonciers) 		7 days 2-3 % of the value of the property notary fees $ 23 Actes rediges par le Conservaterur ( registrar prepares the documents) $16 Certificate of non-encumbrances – not written $ 6 New Property title $ 5 New cadastral map in the name of the buyer 3% of the p
2 An order of payment for state taxes is issued by the tax agent (DGRAD)

The payment order is then sent to the Direction Générale des Recettes Administratives et Judiciares (DGRAJ, General Direction of Administrative and Judicial Revenues) that will prepare the appropriate payment order in order to pay the state rights in a commercial bank.

Agency: General Direction of Administrative and Judicial Revenues (Direction générale des recettes administratives, judiciaires, domaniales et de participations, DGRAD) 		3 days no cost
3 The state fees are paid at a commercial bank

Payment for all fees is made at a commercial bank. A receipt is obtained. This receipt must be deposited at the accounting department of the DGRAD and copy delivered to the Registrar as proof of payment

Concerning the transfer fee: In Congo, precisely in the capital Kinshasa, the city is subdivided in communes.
In the land, each commune has an index of reference seen in annex 1: Arrêté interministériel n° 044/CAB/MIN/AFF.F/2005 et n° 067 CAB/MIN/FINANCES/2005 du 30/05/05 fixant les prix de référence, loyers et redevances des parcelles domaniales situées dans les circonscriptions foncières de la Ville de Kinshasa
Art. 4. — 14 février 1956. – DÉCRET abrogeant et remplaçant le décret du 31 mars 1926 sur les droits d’enregistrement en matière foncière."
The registration fee was reduced from 6% of the property value to 3% in December 2009 (Article 4 of the Arrete interministeriel 004/CAB/MIN/AFF.FONC./2009 and 254/CAB/MIN/ FINANCES/2009 of December 30, 2009, portant fixation des taux des droits, taxes et redevances).



Agency: Commercial Bank 		1 day 3% of property value (Registration fee) + Bank fees $ 23 “Actes rediges par le Conservateur” ( registrar prepares the documents) $16 Certificate of non-encumbrances – not written $ 6 New Property title $ 5 New cadastral map in the name of the buyer
4 An expert from the Cadastre inspects and values the property and prepares the cadastral plan

The Cadastre is a department within the Registry Office (Conservateur). After the department known as the ‘Service de l’Enregistrement’, also within the Registry Office, checks that all taxes are paid, it transfers the file to the Cadastre. The Cadastre designates an expert to inspect and value the property. The geometric engineers from the cadastre produce the cadastral extracts by verifying the property value, measuring its limits and preparing the cadastral map. The Cadastre checks that the parcel is correctly described and taxes have been paid on the correct value of the property. After this process, the Cadastre sends the file back to the ‘Service de l’Enregistrement.

Transfer of lease contract 75% (557.4m2 x $ .20/m2 ) = $104.5 (value paid annually by property owners) for a property like the one studied by DB.

Agency: Cadastre - Registry Office (Conservateur) 		15 days paid in procedure 3.
5 Conclusion of contract for Ordinary occupancy

Before delivery of the new title deed (Certificat d’Enregistrement), a new contract for occupancy (contrat de concession ordinaire) must be concluded between the DRC (who is technically owner of all land) and the buyer. This contract allows the buyer to occupy the land indefinitely. (Article 1 of Arrêté 90/0012 du 31 mars 1990 fixant les modalités de conversion des titres de concession perpétuelle ou ordinaire)
7 days no cost
6 New title deed in the name of the buyer is issued

The Registrar (Conservateur), acting as notary, will notarize the sale contract, in accordance with the article 231 of La loi du 20 juillet 1973, that no transfer of property is valid unless the sale contract is notarized. The Registrar can act as a notary in case the property was previously registered at the Land Registry (dispose d'un titre de propriété). The Registrar will ask for payment of any additional taxes, if applicable. Once these are paid, the Registrar nullifies the old title deed (Certificat d’Enregistrement) in the name of the seller and issues a new title deed in the name of the buyer. This serves as the buyer’s new ownership entitlement. The law also stipulates that the Sale Agreement can be notarized by the Conservateur just before the transfer.

Agency: Registrar of Property (Conservateur des Titres Fonciers) 		21 days no cost
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