A guide to buying in St. Lucia

Interested in buying property in St.Lucia?

If you are interested in buying property in St Lucia, then there are a few things you should know. The following abstracts provide a guide to buying property in St.Lucia out of the perspective of a non-national or a national.

 

Once an Agreement for Sale has been entered the prospective purchaser will be confronted with a 10% deposit, and the cost of purchasing a property of 6-8% that will cover the stamp duty, the Alian Land Holding Licence, the Treasury receipt, legal costs and registration fees. If you are taking a mortgage, there will be an additional set up charge. In the case of St.Lucia-Homes Mortgage Applications an Engagement Fee is only charged once the loan is secured.

Property can be purchased as a natural person, a local company or an international company. Each option should be looked at closely to see which is most appropriate for the individual purchaser. At Property Café our team of St.Lucia-Homes property specialists will be more than happy to give you guidance and advice in choosing the right option for you!

 

All amounts in the following Schedule are in Eastern Caribbean Currency and use the following exchange rate:

US $1.00 = ECC $2.7169

 

NON NATIONALS

Non citizens require an Alien’s Land Holding Licence to purchase real estate in St Lucia. The process involves 4 government departments (Planning Department, the Attorney Generals’ Office, the Prime Minister’s Office or Cabinet for properties larger than 1 acre in size and the Governor General’s Office).

 

In the past this process has been known to take up to two years to complete. Meanwhile the record for obtaining the license is six weeks, but this is the exception rather than the rule. A realistic time-frame for the processing of the application is 4-6 months.

• A local lawyer must register the licence • It is a permanent licence which does not require renewal • The licence is granted for a specific property or plot of land and is not transferable • The cost of the licence upon grant is EC$5,000.00, increasing for properties larger than I acre in extent Fees for the license according to the size of the land: Up to 1 acre of land US$1,859 ECD $5,000 Over 1 acre and up to 10 acres US$3,718 ECD $10,000 Over 10 acres and up to 20 acres US$7,435 ECD $20,000 Over 20 acres and up to 50 acres US$11,153 ECD $30,000 Over 50 acres and up to 100 acres US$14,870 ECD $40,000 100 acres and over US$18,588 ECD $50,000   • There is a non-refundable licence application fee of EC$1,500 • Applications can take as quick as 6 weeks and as long as 6 months to process and are usually applied for immediately after an Agreement for Sale has been entered into and a deposit has been paid by the intended purchaser. • The intended purchaser can secure his or her interest by lodging a “caution” against the property.

 

ALIEN LAND LICENCE

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED IN SUPPORT OF AN APPLICATION FOR AN ALIENS LICENCE

 

1. Non-refundable application fee of EC$1,500 (US$560). Once approved the actual fee for the licence is EC$5,000 (US$1,870).
2. Profile of applicant/Directors of Company –
   - Passport and Citizenship details (Copy Data pages of Passport).
   - Profession or employment status (short form CV/Resume).
   - Bankers’ reference.
3. Police Certificate of good Character (PCGC) or Police Report from country of origin or current residence.
4. The Statutory Declaration (to be provided by us for your signature), may be provided as an interim measure, but the PCGC must be provided within 6 months of the date of the application.
5. Four (4) passport sized colour photographs of the applicant/directors.
6. Purchase Price of the Property.
   

 

All other supporting documents required are available to us here in St Lucia and will be procured and presented along with the application on your behalf.

 

NEWSFLASH

Talks between the Government of St Lucia and the Allied Realtor's Association are focused on finding a faster and more progressive way forward for the processing of 'Alien Landholding Licence' applications. Suggestions have been made to allow applicants to sign a Statutory Declaration to the effect that they do not have a criminal record. Applicants may thereby proceed with the sale and the registration of the property whilst the application makes its way through the various local government departments. The applicant stands to forfeit their property should any criminal records surface, after the sale has gone through.

These changes were expected to take place by February 2009. It has also been suggested that the word “Alien” be abandoned in favour of the less exotic term “Foreign National”. When the Draft legislation will be reviewed and put into effect is uncertain but promising.

 

NATIONALS

The local Buyer has to provide the following documents:

1. A letter from Inland Revenue for Property Tax Clearance and Income Tax Clearance.

2. A letter from National Insurance for Clearance.

 

CONVEYANCING

Conveyancing in St.Lucis under the new land Registration Act 1984 is by an instrument in notarial form (in St.Lucia all Attorneys are Notaries) duly registered at the Land Registry.

The stamp duty payable on the deed of sale and the registration fee are paid by the purchaser to the Notary who attends to the stamping of the conveyance and its registration in the Registry of Lands.

 

The Vendor pays a Vendor’s Tax to the Government which in the case of an alien is 10% of the sale price. There is no capital gains tax in St.Lucia but the Vendor’s Tax can be taken to be its equivalent.

GOVERNMENT STAMP DUTY

There is a stamp duty of 2% of the purchase price of the property to register the Deed of Sale.

 

MORTGAGE

If a mortgage is taken there is a government stamp duty of 1-1.2% of the purchase price to register the mortgage.

 

LEGAL FEES

The legal fees are set at 1-1.2% of the purchase price of the property for the legal work. If a loan is required, the lawyer will may charge an additional 1 to 1.2%. For obtaining Aliens license and preparing and registering the Deed of Sale a total of 3% is charged except where there are unusual difficulties in obtaining the Aliens Licence.

 

POWER OF ATTORNE

Power of attorney- if one is necessary EC$350.00.

 

REGISTRATION, COPIES AND STAMPS

The fees for these services are EC$150.00.

Please note that the above information is a rough guide which is subject to changes