The mark of truly investible ready markets in Africa lies in their regulatory landscape. While African countries have ranked incredibly low in the global transparency index over the past few years, key landmark regulations passed in the last two years have led to increased investor confidence in markets such as Egypt. Below we look at 6 major property law changes that have taken place in key markets to watch out for across Africa.
Real estate registration in Egypt made easier through the amendment of the Real Estate Registration Law No. 114/1946
The amendments of the Real Estate Registration Law aim to facilitate the procedures for registering property, through several steps, including: separating tax payment from registration procedures and fees, reducing the property registration period to one month as well as removing the obstacles of proving the sequence of ownership.
This law aims to transform the status of the real estate market by ensuring that the over 90% of unregistered properties in Egypt are registered, hence transforming and activating the real estate market.
Enhanced land Innovation following the enactment of the Land Act 2020 in Ghana
The Land Act, 2020 was passed into law in July 2021. This Act consolidates the existing laws on land and land administration into a single Act. In addition, it aims to harmonize these laws to ensure sustainable land administration and management as well as effective land tenure.
Furthermore, the new Act brings innovation to the land administration regime as it introduces a few reforms including electronic conveyancing to make it possible to transfer, create or register interests in land by electronic means.
Tenants reprieve through the enactment of Sectional Properties Act (SPA) 2020 in Kenya
The Sectional Properties Act was implemented to remove hurdles for developers towards phased development of high-rise buildings by streamlining the process of dividing buildings with shared common areas into sectional units.
The new law seeks to simplify the process of registration of sectional properties and create an enabling environment for investors and property owners. It seeks to guarantee the rights of property owners by conferring absolute rights to individual unit owners over their units and vest in them the reversionary interests.
Enactment of this act was considered a timely push towards the Government’s agenda on provision of over 500,000 affordable homes.
Enhancing Landlords and Tenants relationships in Kenya
The Landlord and Tenant Bill 2021 seeks to consolidate all the laws on residential and commercial tenancies and to ensure regulation of the rental sector in Kenya.
Among other things the bill seeks to restrict rent increases on commercial and residential premises with consideration of the inflation rate of the previous year. The bill also stipulates that rent reductions should be made upon withdrawal of services that had earlier on prompted an increase. In addition, the bill requires landlords to keep records of rent on the premises and provide the tenants with a copy.
Protection of Real Estate Transactions in Lagos State, Nigeria.
On January 10 2022, the Lagos State Government signed the new Real Estate Regulatory Authority Bill (LASRERA) into Law. The law aims to provide transparency in real estate transactions, as well as protect individuals or organizations from fraudulent operators in the real estate sector in line with global best practices.
In addition, the law mandates that any tenancy agreement less than 5 years be registered with the agency. This would create and maintain a database on real estate transactions in the state. Furthermore, the law seeks to restrict real estate transactions to members of a registered professional body in the State.
Regulating Property Practitioners in South Africa.
The Property Practitioner Act 22 of 2019 came into effect on 1st February 2022 and is set to bring significant changes to the property sector. Primarily, the Act recognizes the need for transformation within the property sector and the protection of consumers.
In addition, the act expands the definition of “Property Practitioner” to not only refer to estate agents, but also include other role players such as bridging financiers, property developers and property managers, to name a few hence consolidating all role players in the property sector for better regulation of property professionals.
Furthermore, it is set to offer much needed protection to consumers by imposing an obligation on Property Practitioners to request sellers or lessors to produce a duly completed and signed mandatory disclosure form. This is a form that disclose all defects on the property that are known to the seller or the lessor. In terms of Section 67 of the Act, a Property Practitioner may not accept a mandate if this form is not produced.
Overall, as investors hunt for yield intensifies, existing regulations will continue to form a key defining feature of market selection across the different countries. As such, we expect the regulatory landscape across the continent will continue to evolve in a bid to enhance investor confidence.
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