Madagascar

Registering Property in

Madagascar

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: MGA 44,750,150.16
  • City: Antananarivo

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
* 1 Request two topographical extracts with coordinates at the ‘Service de la Topographie’

These coordinates allow the marking of the property and are expressed in ‘x’ and ‘y’. This plan is to be signed by both parties and is annexed to the request for authorization of the real estate transaction. This extract can also be traced by a sworn surveyor to delimit the part of the land to be ceded, in case the transaction does not cede the property in its entirety. The cost and time noted here are for a simple plan, intended for a transfer whereby the buyer is not planning on making changes or constructions to the property. For more complex uses of the property, a more detailed plan would have to be drawn, costing between MGA 5000 and 15000, depending on whether a government or private surveyor was used.


Agency: Topographic service (Service de la Topographie) 		5 days (simultaneous with procedures 2 and 3) MGA 1,000 per plan
* 2 Request two copies of the certificate of registration and the legal situation of the land at the Registrar of the Property Registry

This certificate is an extract from the property registry books and must have been obtained in the past three months maximum. It gives the situation of the (past) registrations on the Registry books and indicates the identity of the proprietor of the land who has registered his rights to it. It also indicates any encumbrances on the land.

Agency: Property Registry 		7 days (simultaneous with procedures 1 and 3) MGA 2,000 (MGA 1,000 per copy)
* 3 Request authorization to conduct a real estate transaction at the Ministry of Urban Planning (Ministere de l’Urbanisme)

This request is for an administrative document that indicates, by way of a report on the urban plan, if the property is located in specific zones and if it has zoning issues or encumbrances. It is necessary to attach the certificate of the legal situation (less than 3 months old) and 5 copies of the plan. Only the Director of the Urban Planning Department is authorized to approve the file. Sometimes, if the Director is away, this can cause delays.

Agency: Ministry of Urban Planning (Ministere de l’Urbanisme) 		3 days (simultaneous with procedures 1 and 2) no cost
4 Notary draft and notarize the sale agreement

In 2007, Madagascar adopted a new law: "Loi 2007.026 du 12/12/2007 portant statut du notariat a Madagascar". This law, published in the Official gazette Nº 3181 on April 14th, 2008, makes it mandatory to use the services of a notary for all property transaction for a value above 15 000 000 MGA. It is no longer required to the signatures of both parties to be legalized at the Municipality by either the Mayor or an authorized employee. The notary cost is approximately 3.25% of the property value. An official fee schedule for notary fees has not yet been published and prices are negotiated.
2 – 7 days 1,125,000 MGA
5 Registration of sale agreement at the Office of Property Registry

This step is a fiscal procedure, in light of paying the registration fees on the property and the tax on the appreciation of the property.
Capital gains tax for companies transferring property is no longer applicable according to the Loi des Finances 2007.


Agency: Tax authority 		4 days 6 % property value for registration fees
6 Request transfer to be recorded in the books at the Registrar of the Property Registry

This is the most important procedure in the process. The property right on a land is not transferred until it has been transcribed onto the books at the Registry. When the notary or the buyer file for registration at the Land registry, the "Duplicata" must be attached to the sale and purchase agreement duly notarized. Once the transcription is done, the Registrar will give the "Duplicata" to the new buyer with his name written as the new owner of the property.

Agency: Property Registry 		60 days 2% property value (transfer tax) + MGA 15,000 (fixed fee)
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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