Sierra Leone

Registering Property in

Sierra Leone

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: SLL 65,092,394.8
  • City: Freetown

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 The buyer verifies the seller’s title to the property at the Property Registry

With a copy of the abstract of title the buyer then conducts a search in the property register to verify the seller’s title to the property as well as information regarding the encumbrances on the property.

Agency: Land Registry, Office of the Administrator and Registrar General 		5 days SLL 10,000
2 A licensed surveyor visits the property and prepares the survey plan

A private, licensed surveyor visits the property in order to prepare the survey plan. On average, it is expected to pay around SLL 1.5 million for the services of a private surveyor, which includes as well the cost of submitting the survey plan to the Director of Surveys and Lands

Le1,000/00 for one town lot,
Le 10,000/00 for 1 acre
Le500/00 for change of name in a survey plan
20 days approx. SLL 1 million
3 A licensed surveyor submit the survey plan to the Ministry of Lands and Housing

The buyer should obtain a survey plan of the property duly signed by the Director of Surveys and Lands.

Agency: Ministry of Lands, Country Planning and the Environment 		1 day no cost
4 Countersignature of the Director of Surveys and Lands on the survey plan of the property

In accordance to Section 15 of the Survey Act, CAP 128 of the Laws of Sierra Leone provides for the submission of every site plan to be inserted in a document to be registered. Section 2 of the Survey (Amendment) Act, 1950, mandates that each such plan should be countersigned by the Director of Surveys and Lands.

In accordance to Section 15 of the Surveys Act Cap 256 of the Laws of Sierra Leone (as amended by section 2 of Act No 14 of the Laws of Sierra Leone 1060 ), the licensed surveyor will submit the survey plan to the lands ministry on behalf of the buyer.

The countersigned survey will be returned to the surveyor who submitted the survey plan to the Director of Surveys and Lands.



Agency: Ministry of Lands, Country Planning and the Environment 		30 days no cost
5 Preparation and execution of the sale purchase agreement by a hired lawyer

The General Law Business (Start up) Amendment Act 2007 - Act N0 15 of 200 - stipulates that it is no longer required to hire a lawyer to draft the sale agreement. However, in practice, the parties retained the services of a lawyer to draft the sale purchase agreement.
7 days 10% of purchase price
6 Obtain a tax clearance certificate from the National Revenue Authority

The tax clearance is applied for after the deed document is prepared . It is submitted to the NRA on application for tax clearance, and payment of the assessed tax, the deed is stamped on the margin of the front page, and a receipt issued, which is attached to the document.
The seller of the property pays 10% of the profit derived from the sale as capital gains tax, and the above certificate is issued. Please note that Capital gains tax is not included in the calculation.



Agency: National Revenue Authority 		2 days SLL 5,000 + 10% capital gains tax (not included in the calculation)
7 Registration of the transfer of title by the Registrar General

The transfer of title is registered by the Registrar General. Stamp duty, registration fee, Property fee and local taxes (estimates based on acreage) are paid at this time. The registration fee is a fixed fee.


Agency: Land Registry, Office of the Administrator and Registrar General 		21 days SLL 30,000 is paid for acknowledgement or proof of the deed, SLL 20,000 for delivery of the deed, SLL 30,000 the recording/registration of the deed (registration fee). SLL 100,000 per acre of land (Land Tax) (1 Acre = 4047 (round number) square meters
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