myTobago – your questions, review and comment about Tobago

Would appreciate some advice regarding purchasing a house to live full time in Tobago. Understand some areas are "no go" - is this true of the Pinehurst Road area at the Mount Irvine site as have heard that it is a target for being broken in to. Assuming because it is mostly rentals. Would this be the case if the house was permanently lived in do you think or would that not make any difference. Had a look at some sites at Courland yet to be built on but did not really take to them that much. We quite liked it around the Signal Hill area but would like some advice.

Loretta,
I assume from your plans to purchase and live in Tobago that you are aware that there is a requirement for non-nationals to acquire a license to purchase property in Tobago, and that this presents no problem with you.

If you were not aware of this before, the problem then becomes how to get a license? This requirement was announced over two years ago, and to date, the rules and process for acquiring the license still have not been announced by the Tobago House of Assembly. There were rumors some time ago that the THA would not have a problem issuing licences for non-nationals to purchase in the new integrated developments ie planned holiday residential developments such as Tobago Plantations and the Angostura Samaan Grove development, but that purchasing outside of these types of developments would be more difficult. But for now, there are no formally announced rules, so everything is speculative at this time.

Regarding the three specific locations you mentioned: Pinehurst Drive is in Mt. Irvine, and this area , together with the Courland area, had been subject to a number of home invasions a few years ago - some quite horrific, with reports of visitors being robbed, beaten, and sometimes raped. Thankfully, the frequency of attacks in these areas has not been frequent in recent times, but those two areas still have somewhat of a stigma attached to them because of this history. One characteristic of those areas is the distance between houses, often interspersed with empty overgrown lots in between, which makes it easy for a household to be attacked without alerting a close-by neighbor. The Signal Hill area is a solid middle-class residential area, is well built-up, and there have not been any reports of criminal activity there. Whether non-nationals will be able to purchase in this area will depend on what rules are announced regarding foreign purchasers.

If you are not already married to a T&T national, and would therefore be subject to the licencing requirement, my advice to you would be not to make any decisions or financial commitments until the licencing rules are announced and operationalised. By the latter, I mean that even if the rules were announced, the THA might still take some time to set up the actual process. Most purchase agreements require a closing date of 90 days from deposit, and you could run afoul of this deadline if you assume that you can get approval in time to close, and then miss the deadline, with the potential to forfeit your deposit. At a minimum, the purchase agreement should have a clause saying that the close would depend on the THA approval being received.
Hope this helps.
Clyde

Hello Clyde,

I'm wondering if you have heard of a law concerning "squatting", meaning that when a person has lived in a place for 16 years that they then own the property. Island legend?

Thanks, Hugh

Many thanks Clyde - your comments were most helpful.

Clyde hit the nail squarely on the head, as usual.

You can't buy here at the moment until the licence requirements are announced... and right now, nothing's cast in stone. It's been this way for about three years now. Even if you were in the process of buying when the law came into effect, unless you'd COMPLETED, you' still can't do anything with it. I'd wait awhile in all honesty unless you're a T&T citizen or married to one.

Hi Hugh,
In T&T there is definitely something called "squatters rights", where people who can prove that they have lived (illegally) on a piece of land for a number of years can claim certain rights to occupancy, but I will confess that's the extent of my knowledge! If you need to get specifics best bet would be to consult a local lawyer.
Clyde