Property Acquisition
Purchasing Property in St. Lucia
Development in St. Lucia is a planned process, thus all development plans for the island has to be submitted in application form to The Development Control Authority (DCA), which is the sole authority granting approval for development on the island.
All applications are responded to within a three month period.
Purchasing Property
In St. Lucia, ownership of property changes by conveyance of title recorded in the Land Registry together with a certified survey plan issued by the Survey Office. The deed of sale must be executed before luxury house builders who is also a legal practitioner in St. Lucia.
Land Title may be held in the name of a legal entity; person or locally registered corporate body.
Non Nationals (individuals)
An Alien landholding license is a prerequisite mandated by law for non nationals desirous of acquiring property on the island. The following documents must accompany the Alien landholding licence application form:
Police record
3 passport size pictures
Birth certificate
Certificate of character
Finger prints
Statutory Declaration
Bank reference
The costs associated with the application and award of an Alien Landholding licence are as follows:
Non refundable licence application fee – US$552.00 or XCD$1,500.
Legal fees for processing of application fee approximately US$1000 or XCD$2,700.
Acquisitions for properties of the varying sizes and their corresponding costs are tabulated below:
Parcel size in Acres Up to 1 1 to 10 >10 to 20 >20 to 50 >50 to 100 >100
Licence fee – US$ equivalent 1,840 3,681 7,361 11,042 14,723 18,403
Licence fee in XCD $ $5000 $10,000 $20,000 $30,000 $40,000 $50,000
Non Nationals (Corporate)
In addition to the alien land holding licence application form and the documents listed above, the following documents must support the application:
Memorandum and articles of incorporation
List of all directors and proof of their citizenship
Bank references for each director
Certificate of character and finger prints for each director
Purchasing Costs
The following are closing costs involved in the purchase of property:
Government stamp duty … 2% of purchase price
Registration, copies and stamps … EC$140.00
Valuation … approx. 0.5% of value
Legal fees for deed of sale
2.5% of value up to $50,000
1.5% from $51,000 to $150,000
1% from $151,000 to $1,000,000
.5% from $1,000,000 and above
Vendor’s Costs
In addition to the legal fees the following breakdown of costs should be factored in the selling of property:
Vendor’s tax (Aliens) … 10% of sale price
Vendor’s Tax (Citizens) … Exempted from the 1st1 $50,000.00 of sale price
Next $25,000.00 … 2.5% of sale price
Next $75,000.00 … 3.5% of sale price
Any balance … 5% of sale price
Radiation … if applicable
Documents required in the sale and Purchase of property
Purchaser:
Vendor’s letter confirming agreed purchase price of property
A survey plan of the land
A copy of the location plan
A copy of the land register
A copy of the Vendor’s Deed of sale
A letter of compliance from the National Insurance Corporation
A letter of compliance from the Inland Revenue Department
Vendor:
A letter of compliance from the National Insurance Corporation
A letter of compliance from the Inland Revenue Department for property and income tax.