West Bank and Gaza

Registering Property in

West Bank and Gaza

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: ILS 289,119.42
  • City: Ramallah

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Open the transaction file at the land registry

The land registry examines the documents and the property file and determines what taxes are to be paid on it. It then makes an estimate of the property value and gives the parties 2 forms–one each for the Municipality and the Ministry of Finance, to take to those offices and receive debt-free tax certificates.

Documents required:
- incorporation documents
- board resolutions to buy/sell
- identification of all parties
- notarized POAs

Agency: Land Registry 		14 days no cost
2 Obtain tax clearance certificate from the Municipality

Parties bring the form initially obtained from the land registry in procedure 3.

Agency: Municipality 		2 days no cost
3 Obtain tax clearance certificate from the Ministry of Finance

Parties bring the form initially obtained from the land registry in procedure 3.

Agency: Ministry of Finance 		2 days no cost
4 Land registry valuates property

The valuation is only needed if the property has not been assessed in the past 5 years–which indeed applies to this case. If it has, the value should be in the title file or the parties give an estimate. If not, then an inspection/valuation is required which takes 3 days total and no cost. The registry will then take the remaining time to make its estimate of the value based on the higher of either the parties estimate or the official valuation.

Agency: Land Registry 		20 days $6 - $8
5 Proceed to land registry to sign valuation



Agency: Land Registry 		1 day no cost
6 Pay fees at commercial bank



Agency: Commercial Bank 		1 day 1% of property value (transfer fee) + $ 8 (stamp duty)
7 Bring receipts to land registry and finalize the transaction



Agency: Land Registry 		1 -2 days no cost
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