Maldives

Registering Property in

Maldives

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: MVR 2,893,017.81
  • City: Malé

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Check for encumbrances

Due diligence searches may be lodged by anyone (including individuals) at the Male’ Municipality in order to check whether any mortgages has been registered against a property.

Agency: Municipality 		7 days No cost
* 2 Apply to the Civil Court for the sale of the Land

Lawyer fees may be applicable. Legal fees are estimated to be in the range of MRF 45,000- 55,000 for all court transactions in relation to the property sale. The documents submitted to the Civil Court for this procedure include:
1. The original title deed of the property
2. Filled Civil Court Form for property sales
3. Sale and purchase contract

The time required is 20 working days.

Agency: Civil Court 		30 days (Simulteneous with proc 3 & 4) MRF 45,000- 55,000 + MRF 25 for court administrative fees
* 3 Purchase agreement is submitted to the Ministry of Housing

For taxation purposes, the value of the land is either the actual sale price of the land or the total price of the land calculated on the basis of MRF 1,400 per square feet, whichever total value is higher. This tax is paid by the seller. Time required is between 7 - 14 working days.

Agency: Ministry of Housing, Transport and Environment 		14 days (Simulteneous with proc 2 & 4) 15% of the value of the property
* 4 Submit detailed outline chart to Civil Court

The detailed chart includes outlines of neighboring houses as well. The outline charts are done by the Municipality.

Agency: Municipality 		3 days (Simulteneous with proc 2 & 3) no cost
5 Obtain the Civil Court Report or Judgment in relation to the sale of property

Lawyer fees may be applicable. Legal fees are estimated to be in the range of MRF 45,000- 55,000 for all court transactions in relation to the property sale. Time required for this procedure is 10 workings days.

Agency: Civil Court 		15 days MRF 45,000- 55,000 court fees (included in procedure 2)
6 Apply for registration at the Municipality

The documents that need to be submitted for the above purpose includes:
1. Originals of the registry/title documents of the current owner.
2. Proof of payment of tax to the Government.
3. The Civil Court Report or Judgment in relation to the sale of property.

Agency: Municipality 		5 days MRF 50/- for issuing a Registry certificate MRF 50/- for revenue stamp
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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