Plots on the islands: what is actually on offer, what it is worth, and the order the steps have to happen in.
Our fee is two and a half per cent on a completed transfer, or a flat 7,500 rufiyaa for an advisory opinion where you only want to know what you are looking at.
Start with the honest part. Land on an island is not a flat in Hulhumalé and it does not change hands the same way. What is being offered varies: sometimes a plot somebody holds and can transfer, sometimes a long lease, sometimes a share of a family holding where four people have to agree and only two are on the island. Very often there is an existing building, a boundary wall in the wrong place, or a neighbour who has been using a strip of it for eleven years.
The practice differs from island to island, the island council is involved in most routes, and the rules are not the same as they were five years ago. That is why we will not print a procedure on a web page and call it the procedure. What we do instead, on every instruction, is establish what applies to that plot on that island at that time, in writing, before anybody is asked for money.
What we check as a matter of course: the plot's measured size against what the paperwork says, because the two disagree more often than people expect. Road access, and whether the access is a road or a habit. Whether water and power reach the boundary or stop two plots short. What the building history is, and whether anything standing on it was ever recorded. Who has to consent, all of them, by name. And whether anything is owed against it.
On foreign involvement we are careful and brief. Ownership of land by people who are not nationals is restricted here, and most foreign residents rent rather than buy. Where a company is the buyer, the position depends on how that company is held. We will tell you what we understand to apply to your situation, put it in writing, and send you to a lawyer before a single payment is made. We do not give legal advice and we will not guess at a rule to keep a deal moving.