Completion Time Frame: 2-5 days
Completion Costs: GHC 100 – 150
Points to Note:
An attorney prepares the transfer document (transfer deed) to include site plan preparation.
The deed must be signed by both the vendor and the purchaser and their witnesses.

Step 2: Assessment and payment of Stamp duty

Completion Time Frame: 3-14 days
Completion Costs: GHC 55 (Processing fee) + 0.5% of property value (stamp duty)
Points to Note:
Stamp Duty is assessed and paid at Land Valuation Board.
The buyer presents the deed of assignment to the Land Valuation Board .
The property is inspected to ascertain its current open market value.
The buyer pays Stamp Duty to the Land Valuation Board

The Stamp Duty Act of 2005 (Act 6S9) reduced the stamp duty from 2% to 0.5%. This Act states that for the conveyance or transfer on the sale of a property, the stamp duty is 0.25% where the property value is less than GHC 10000. For properties valued between GHC 10000 and 50000, stamp duty is 0.5%, and for properties valued above GHC 50000, stamp duty is 1%.

Step 3: Submit application for title certificate at Land Title Registry

Completion Time Frame: 1 day
Completion Costs: GHC 2
Points to Note:
Submission of application form for Title Certificate and payment of processing fee at Land Title Registry.

The documentation shall include:
Application form
Original and one copy of the deed of assignment, duly completed
Land Certificate
Company’s certificate of incorporation.

Step 4: Publication of transaction in national weekly newspaper

Completion Time Frame: 7-21 days
Completion Costs: GHC 25
Points to Note:
The transaction must be published in the national weekly newspaper in order to issue Land Title Certificate.
The fee for publication is GHC 25 for land the size of 0.25 acres or less. Where the Land Certificate is urgently required, the applicant has the option to choose what is known as “special publication”. In that case, the amount payable is GHC 95. However, if the size of the land plot is above 1 acre (but less than 4 acres), the amount payable is GHC 125. If the size of the land plot is above 4 acres, the amount payable is 2% of GHC 25 on every 0.25 acre. The current position, however, is that where the size of the land is more than 4 acres, the amount payable is a flat rate of GHC 200.

Step 5: Issuance of title certificate

Completion Time Frame: 1-14 days
Completion Costs: no cost
Points to Note:
The title Certificate is issued by the Land Title Registry.
The transaction is recorded on the Land Certificate, which is returned to the owner. The original of the deed of assignment, having been stamped to show that it has been registered, is also returned to the applicant. The Registry keeps a duplicate. The folio of the Register is filed and the transaction document is placed in the land parcel file.
The owner will use the property after the title is issued by Land Title (in areas covered by Land Title Registration) or when the Deed has been registered under the Deeds Registration Act and Development Permit granted by the Assembly. Most often property owners do not wait to go through these processes before making use of the land.