St. Kitts and Nevis

Registering Property in

St. Kitts and Nevis

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: XCD 1,370,000
  • City: Basseterre

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Property is surveyed or plan is verified by surveyor

If this is a new property title, the cost for the new survey is $1000 per acre. In this case, it is not a new title, so cost is just $350 per copy.
14 days XCD 350 per copy of plan
* 2 Lawyer searches the title at the land registry

During the preparation of the memorandum of transfer, the lawyer will search the title at the land registry for encumbrances. The fee is a $5 adhesive stamp that can be purchased at the registry or from a post office.

Agency: Land Registry 		1 day (simultaneous with procedure 3) XCD 5
* 3 Lawyer prepares memorandum of transfer

The parties' lawyer will prepare the memorandum of transfer over a period of about two weeks, during which he will also search the title at the land registry. At the end of this period the parties sign the memorandum of transfer.

Documents required:
Tax receipts relevant to the property (vendor)
Survey plan (obtained in procedure 1)

 14 days (simultaneous with procedure 2) (fees paid in procedure 5)
4 Submit revenue receipt voucher & memorandum of transfer to the Inland Revenue Department

The revenue receipt voucher (a standard form) is submitted with the memorandum of transfer, along with payment of Stamp Duty. The Stamp Duty is paid by the vendor. All fees are paid at the Inland Revenue Department.

Agency: Inland Revenue Department 		14 days 12% of purchase price (Stamp Duty) + XCD 7.20 (Registration fee) + 0.2% of purchase price (Land Assurance Fund)
5 Vendor’s attorney prepares a linen copy of the new certificate of title and finalizes memorandum of transfer

At this step the balance of the purchase price is exchanged for the memorandum of transfer and the vendor’s attorney prepares a linen copy of the new certificate of title.
Documents:
Stamped memorandum of transfer
Receipts for payment of fees (obtained in procedure 4)

 1 day Lawyer’s fees (cumulative): Property purchase price: Fee: First XCD 25,000 2.5% Second XCD 25,000 2% Remainder 1%
6 Memorandum of transfer submitted to Supreme Court Registry

The memorandum of transfer is submitted to the Registrar for approval. The old certificate is then cancelled and a new certificate of title is issued. All records at the Registry are in paper format. It can take over a month for the transfer to be approved because the Registry is often overloaded with work.

Documentation required:
- One copy of the cadastral survey of land, attached to the linen copy of the certificate of title
- Proof of payment of all taxes relating to the property


Agency: Supreme Court Registry 		30-45 days (fees paid in procedure 4)
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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