Some residents of Livingstone have complained bitterly after a Livingstone-based real estate company failed to issue them land title deeds after having completed their full payments for their purchased land.
The residents claim that they have been waiting for their deeds since September last year after making full payments.
But when contacted by the Zambian Business Times -ZBT-, Palmridge Properties defended itself by saying that the delay was due to a change of system process that was taking place at the Ministry of Lands as well as some issues that were being worked on by the Livingstone council.
Palmridge Properties Operations Manager Amos Chisha explained that the Ministry of Lands was last year changing its system during the last quarter and only managed to process a few title deeds. He also explained that the Livingstone council had some issues with companies that were sub-dividing, but mentioned that the matters have been resolved.
He explained that the title conveyance process is quite a tedious and lengthy process. He said changing of title requires one to mark off the property and that the process is only started when one is done with the payments. “So if you finish your payments today we give you a discharge letter, we give instructions to our lawyers to do a consent. Those consents are taken to the Ministry of Lands” said Chisha. He said this is to inform the state of the intention to change ownership of property from the current owner in this case Palm Ridge to the beneficiary.
He said the marking off of the land for those who completed payments has already begun and is in process.
He said it is on average not possible for someone to get his or her land title within a few months due to the lengthy processes. He noted that the completion of the process is dependent on when a particular client finished paying.
Chisha said the company is targeting to complete the title processes by the end of the first quarter of 2024. He has advised the clients not to anticipate problems and has assured them that the title processes are in progress.
He said the information with regards to palm properties and land is available at the Ministry of lands and the Livingstone Council. He has therefore challenged clients to visit the Livingstone Council and inquire if they have any doubts.
