property warning!
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Sarah Deere-jones
property warning!
Some may save themselves some trouble if they heed this warning after our recent experience. We love Tobago and have been planning to buy property there for the last two years. Having just got everything together, and after having been e mailing 5 different agents there about various properties since January, we booked flights and hotel for June 2007. But today (in May 2007) we have only just discovered that presently foreigners CANNOT buy property in Tobago at all for the foreseable future, a fact which is not mentioned on ANY websites about Tobago, anywhere as far as I can find! Even the agents had not told us until we confirmed our flight times to them! There seems to be a conspiracy of silence going on, so if you are hoping to buy property there forget it until further notice.
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Steve Pitts
- Tobago Anorak
- Posts: 710
- Joined: Mon Apr 28, 2003 11:18 am
- Location: Bristol U.K
Hi Sarah
Could you tell us the source of your latest information please.
I know that the THA are buying land up like it's going out of fashion and restrictions have been in place for some time on the amount of land that can be bought by non-nationals, but hadn't heard anything about an outright ban on land/property purchase by foreigners.
Cheers
Steve
Could you tell us the source of your latest information please.
I know that the THA are buying land up like it's going out of fashion and restrictions have been in place for some time on the amount of land that can be bought by non-nationals, but hadn't heard anything about an outright ban on land/property purchase by foreigners.
Cheers
Steve
Take only photos - leave only footprints. I like that concept.
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David Watkins
- Bude Cool Boy
- Posts: 1990
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- Location: Bude Cornwall uk
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Steve Wooler
- myTobago Editor & Chief Anorak
- Posts: 4856
- Joined: Sun Apr 21, 2002 11:00 pm
- Location: Suffolk, England
- Contact:
Hi Sarah
I don't think its as much a conspiracy of silence as the usual Tobago bungling. To be honest, its not something I've looked into because, frankly, its outside the remit of this site. I could be wrong, but didn't I hear that non-residents now have to get a licence before buying property, but nobody has quite decided what these licences involve or how to get them? I believe the honest bottom line is that nobody knows what is required and keeps hoping that something will be resolved in "the next day or two".
David I think its unfair to scare people who have bought property on the island by suggesting that their property might be repossessed. There's virtually NO chance of Tobago achieving full self-government (increasingly so now that the Trini's have got the smell of Tobago gas/oil in their nose). Even if they did, whilst I'm sure they would introduce restrictions on the purchase of land by non-residents (and, frankly, I have no issue with that) but re-possessing existing property is another thing altogether. I remember talking about this with a senior member of the government the winter before last and he laughed at the idea of property being bought back, as had been allegedly suggested by one VERY senior member of the government who was embittered after losing out on a property deal to an overseas buyer.
I don't think its as much a conspiracy of silence as the usual Tobago bungling. To be honest, its not something I've looked into because, frankly, its outside the remit of this site. I could be wrong, but didn't I hear that non-residents now have to get a licence before buying property, but nobody has quite decided what these licences involve or how to get them? I believe the honest bottom line is that nobody knows what is required and keeps hoping that something will be resolved in "the next day or two".
David I think its unfair to scare people who have bought property on the island by suggesting that their property might be repossessed. There's virtually NO chance of Tobago achieving full self-government (increasingly so now that the Trini's have got the smell of Tobago gas/oil in their nose). Even if they did, whilst I'm sure they would introduce restrictions on the purchase of land by non-residents (and, frankly, I have no issue with that) but re-possessing existing property is another thing altogether. I remember talking about this with a senior member of the government the winter before last and he laughed at the idea of property being bought back, as had been allegedly suggested by one VERY senior member of the government who was embittered after losing out on a property deal to an overseas buyer.
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David Watkins
- Bude Cool Boy
- Posts: 1990
- Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2003 12:12 pm
- Location: Bude Cornwall uk
- Contact:
Reprimand accepted 
Yes I had heard about the licencing but could get very little,if any info on it.
See, The Toabago news for 11 May - article http://www.thetobagonews.com/index.pl/a ... d=11654515
David
Yes I had heard about the licencing but could get very little,if any info on it.
See, The Toabago news for 11 May - article http://www.thetobagonews.com/index.pl/a ... d=11654515
David
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Steve Wooler
- myTobago Editor & Chief Anorak
- Posts: 4856
- Joined: Sun Apr 21, 2002 11:00 pm
- Location: Suffolk, England
- Contact:
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Paul Makin
- Oh, so Sad!
- Posts: 127
- Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2003 10:50 pm
- Location: wigan/crown point
the reform of the Alien Land Act is, as i understand it, currently before the THA. i wasnt aware that it had already happened though!!!! maybe the situation is becoming confused by this?
again my understanding is that an aliens rights to their property are, currently, constitutional and therefore protected.
this is a good time to proceed with extreme caution in respect of property purchases given the well publicised issues surrounding land sales etc. i suspect that, as posted above, the process will revert to a "licensed sales to aliens" situation, once the dust settles.
paul
again my understanding is that an aliens rights to their property are, currently, constitutional and therefore protected.
this is a good time to proceed with extreme caution in respect of property purchases given the well publicised issues surrounding land sales etc. i suspect that, as posted above, the process will revert to a "licensed sales to aliens" situation, once the dust settles.
paul
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Clyde Alleyne
- Oh, so Sad!
- Posts: 220
- Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2005 2:40 am
- Location: Samaan Grove, Tobago
I have been in regular contact with a number of Tobago real estate agents and can confirm that a few months ago, the newspapers published a notice stating that non-residents wishing to purchase property in Tobago must apply for a licence. Unfortunately, to date, there has been no announcement regarding the process, nor the requirements that would have to be satisfied by licence applicants. The real estate agents are understandably quite frustrated by the delay, since they have a number of transactions that were in process and which were therefore put in limbo as a result of the announcement. There were also a number of development projects which were targeted to offshore buyers which have had to be put on hold pending clarification of the new rules. The agents' current understanding is that recommendations regarding the new licensing process have been submitted to the Cabinet for ratification, but as this has not yet happened, no announcement can be made.
I know that this might be outside of the scope of the forum but lots of visitors fall in love with Tobago and begin thinking about the idea of purchasing a property there, since many properties appear to be a bargain when the TTD prices are converted (at the current rates of TTD 12.70 to the Pound or TTD 6.3 to the USD). The cost of living in Tobago is also arguably the lowest in the Caribbean (I'm sure readers who have travelled to other islands can attest to that).
A special point to note is that in many parts of Tobago, clear title to the land being purchased can be cloudy and can take quite a while to resolve, due to issues of family ownership, and sometimes difficulty of locating the title documents. If anyone wishes to purchase a property in Tobago, it is important to ask the real estate agent to get the seller's agreement to hold the purchase deposit in escrow until the title search is completed and it is confirmed that the title is clear.
There is another situation that you might encounter. Many locals (especially Trinidadian villa owners) have their Tobago property held by a registered company, so instead of buying the property directly, the purchaser actually buys the shares in the company, thereby acquiring the property that the company owns. This has the advantage that transfer taxes for the purchase of shares (0.5%) are much lower than transfer taxes for the purchase of property (10% for properties over TTD 650,000). There is a belief among the local legal community that if a non-resident wishes to buy a property that happens to be held by a company, then this type of transaction is not affected by the licensing announcement. But having said that, please confirm this with the real estate agent and ask them to get legal confirmation!:!:
As Paul said, don't rush into a transaction until the situation is clarified further. Get the latest information from the real estate agents. And ask if the property you are interested in is held by a company, as this may give you a loophole to avoid the licencing process and save a lot of transfer taxes too.
I agree that there is no likelihood that the THA will simply repossess any property owned by a non-resident. The only situation where the THA acquires a property is if there is a deemed need for that property for the development of Tobago eg., if the property is needed for a THA industrial or residential development project (eg the Friendship Estate purchase), or if it is important to some aspect of the Tobago economy (eg the Pigeon Point purchase). And in those situations the THA paid market price. But there is absolutely no reason to be afraid that the THA will acquire a single villa property from a non-resident just because it was purchased before the licencing regime!
Hope this helps.
Clyde
I know that this might be outside of the scope of the forum but lots of visitors fall in love with Tobago and begin thinking about the idea of purchasing a property there, since many properties appear to be a bargain when the TTD prices are converted (at the current rates of TTD 12.70 to the Pound or TTD 6.3 to the USD). The cost of living in Tobago is also arguably the lowest in the Caribbean (I'm sure readers who have travelled to other islands can attest to that).
A special point to note is that in many parts of Tobago, clear title to the land being purchased can be cloudy and can take quite a while to resolve, due to issues of family ownership, and sometimes difficulty of locating the title documents. If anyone wishes to purchase a property in Tobago, it is important to ask the real estate agent to get the seller's agreement to hold the purchase deposit in escrow until the title search is completed and it is confirmed that the title is clear.
There is another situation that you might encounter. Many locals (especially Trinidadian villa owners) have their Tobago property held by a registered company, so instead of buying the property directly, the purchaser actually buys the shares in the company, thereby acquiring the property that the company owns. This has the advantage that transfer taxes for the purchase of shares (0.5%) are much lower than transfer taxes for the purchase of property (10% for properties over TTD 650,000). There is a belief among the local legal community that if a non-resident wishes to buy a property that happens to be held by a company, then this type of transaction is not affected by the licensing announcement. But having said that, please confirm this with the real estate agent and ask them to get legal confirmation!:!:
As Paul said, don't rush into a transaction until the situation is clarified further. Get the latest information from the real estate agents. And ask if the property you are interested in is held by a company, as this may give you a loophole to avoid the licencing process and save a lot of transfer taxes too.
I agree that there is no likelihood that the THA will simply repossess any property owned by a non-resident. The only situation where the THA acquires a property is if there is a deemed need for that property for the development of Tobago eg., if the property is needed for a THA industrial or residential development project (eg the Friendship Estate purchase), or if it is important to some aspect of the Tobago economy (eg the Pigeon Point purchase). And in those situations the THA paid market price. But there is absolutely no reason to be afraid that the THA will acquire a single villa property from a non-resident just because it was purchased before the licencing regime!
Hope this helps.
Clyde
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Sarah Deere-jones
property warning
Its very interesting to hear the comments of others here on the forum about this - I have today been back to some of the property agents websites and they STILL are not mentioning anywhere that foreigners CANNOT buy property there at the moment! Only on one site does it mention it in very small print hidden away on a back page!! I was e mailing several agents since January about various properties, and they were answering my queries but not bothering to mention I couldnt buy anything!!! Only after we booked a flight, did one of them come clean. I dont think this is 'bungling' I think its covering up, and we lost £400 cancelling our air fares because of it.
For people who are thinking of investing hundreds of thousands of their hard earned cash into the place, it's not a good start, and they really should be more up front about the situation.
For people who are thinking of investing hundreds of thousands of their hard earned cash into the place, it's not a good start, and they really should be more up front about the situation.
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Clyde Alleyne
- Oh, so Sad!
- Posts: 220
- Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2005 2:40 am
- Location: Samaan Grove, Tobago
I can certainly sympathize with your predicament. I agree that real estate agents should be clear about the situation when faced with overseas queries. It appears that the wheels of government bureaucracy are moving at their normal (glacial) pace, and whenever direct questions are put to Tobago House of Assembly executives about the situation, their common response is "the new rules will be out in about 2 weeks". Problem is, they've been saying this for months!
Regarding the potential loophole I had mentioned in an earlier post about property being held by a private company, the current interpretation by a number of lawyers is that (unfortunately) once the new shareholders are foreign, and the property is the main asset, the new licencing rules will still apply. So this potential loophole has turned out to be not a loophole at all.
Clyde
Regarding the potential loophole I had mentioned in an earlier post about property being held by a private company, the current interpretation by a number of lawyers is that (unfortunately) once the new shareholders are foreign, and the property is the main asset, the new licencing rules will still apply. So this potential loophole has turned out to be not a loophole at all.
Clyde