Property Law in Pakistan

Property Law

Property law rules numerous forms of possession and residence in real property and private property. It also supplies and rules by which issues that are related to property can be fixed. The price and importance of land since the beginning of time has been kind of high and for that reason, the market for buying, selling and hiring of property is not likely to slow down. This explains that this subject is one of the steadiest legal practice areas. Property law is a compulsory subject for a a student who is doing bachelors in Law. Some of the fields that are also taught to the students within this module are

• transfer of land
• ownership of land
• Issues over land
• tenancies
• licenses
• easements
• mortgages
• adverse possession

Now that you have a little understanding of what ‘’Property Law’’ is defined as. Now you must know about the criterions of who can own a piece of land in Pakistan.

Who can Buy a piece of Land in Pakistan

    Land or property is a regional field in Pakistan. Similarly, the provinces have made laws about the possession of land. In addition, everyone can buy a piece of land, including foreigners, if they fulfill the conditions for buying a piece of property. In this regard, article 23 of the constitution talks about the following;

“Every citizen shall have the right to acquire, hold, and dispose of the property in part of Pakistan.”

Moreover, according to article 172 of the constitution;

“Any property which has no rightful owner shall if located in the province, vest in the Government of that province. And in every other case, in the Federal Government.”

However, there are four main laws regarding buying and selling of property in Pakistan, these acts are written in the form of Acts and these Acts are listed below

1. Registration Act 1908

Registration Act 1908 is a law which was initially made to examine the enrollment of the real estate. Registration Act 1908 has all the important guidelines for registration of properties and it has in total fifteen departments.  Registration Act 1908 contains details about the creation of registration, and describes where and how a piece of land can be registered. The time of presentation of the documents and the place of presenting the documents is also mentioned in the Registration Act 1908. In short, Registration Act 1908 is quite a brief law that provides complete guidelines on all matters of real estate registration in Pakistan, while eradicating any kind of confusion.

2. Stamp Act 1899

The Stamp Act 1899 directly influences the income of the government as it provides in detail about the distinct stamps used in buying and selling of Pakistan real estate. Stamp Act 1899’s directs the buyers and sellers to pay a certain amount to government as a substitute to the stamp papers that used to make the legal agreements of buying and selling of real estate in Pakistan. The stamp rates may not be constant due to the aftermath of expansion of governmental policies, but the overall Stamp Act 1899 suggests the buyers and sellers of Pakistan real estate to officially confirm their buying and selling of lands with the use of Stamp.

3. Land Revenue Act 1967

Land Revenue Act 1967 puts out the complete system and ranking of the land and profit department in Pakistan. It talks about the different powers given to the various land and income department offices and their satisfactory jurisdictions. Land Revenue Act also teaches the collection of land revenue. Some of the more sensitive and dire issues like conducting of surveys, marking of boundaries, partitions, and agreements also provide information about in Land Revenue Act 1967.

4. Transfer of Property Act 1882

Transfer of Property Act 1882 talks in detail about how the transportation of land power in Pakistan real estate should take place. Transfer of Property Act 1882 has a direct effect on the buying and selling of property. There are times when people intend to transfer a property to another person even when they are legally unauthorized to do that, which can cause a numerous problem for the buyer who has paid his money that he worked so hard for in order to buy the property. Transfer of Property Act 1882 informs in an explained way about the persons valid to transfer the property, operation of transfer, oral transfer, and what sorts of properties are transferable.

Establishment of Real Estate Investment Trust in Pakistan

   The concept of Real Estate Investment Trust has been not so long ago introduced in Pakistan as a motive for real estate investment in Pakistan. Any revenue of such trust is free from tax, subject to the condition that not less than 90 percent of its profit of the year is divided amongst the unit holders.