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Property Law 14 Feb 2026 7 min read

Land Use Act in the FCT: practical notes for buyers in 2026

Buying land in the FCT remains a documentation-heavy exercise. The price is rarely the variable that determines whether a transaction succeeds, the title chain is.

1. The Certificate of Occupancy or R-of-O. Verify it directly at AGIS. A copy in the seller's file is necessary but not sufficient.

2. The deed of assignment in the chain. Every prior assignment must trace back to the original allocation. Gaps are the single most common cause of failed transactions in our experience.

3. Governor's consent. Required under section 22 of the Land Use Act for any subsequent assignment. Without it, the transaction is inchoate.

We close transactions only after these three are confirmed in writing, not on representation, not on a promise to perfect later. The cost of doing it properly is a fraction of the cost of unwinding a defective transaction.