An overview of laws regulating buying and selling of properties in Pakistan

Like any other country, the buying and selling of real estate in Pakistan is governed by certain laws that you need to abide by, when making real estate transactions in Pakistan. There are four main laws that impinge on the buying and selling in Pakistan real estate.

1. Registration Act 1908

Registration Act 1908 is a law which was originally made to check the registration of the real estate. Registration Act 1908 has all the necessary instructions for registration of properties and it has in total fifteen sections. Registration Act 1908 contains details about the establishment of registration, and describes where the properties 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 comprehensive law that guides you on all matters of real estate registration in Pakistan, while leaving no ambiguity.

2. Stamp Act 1899

The Stamp Act 1899 directly affects the revenue of the government as it mentions in detail about the different 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 in lieu of the stamp papers used to make the legal agreements of buying and selling of real estate in Pakistan. The stamp rates might change due to the impact of inflation and governmental policies, but the overall Stamp Act 1899 instructs buyers and sellers of Pakistan real estate to legally validate their buying and selling of properties through the use of Stamp.

3. Land Revenue Act 1967

Land Revenue Act 1967 lays out the complete structure and hierarchy of the land and revenue department in Pakistan. It discusses the different powers allotted to the different land and revenue department offices and their due jurisdictions. Land Revenue Act also instructs on the collection of land revenue. Some of the more critical issues like conducting of surveys, marking of boundaries, partitions, and arbitrations are also instructed about in Land Revenue Act 1967.

4. Transfer Of Property Act 1882

Transfer of Property Act 1882 discusses in detail about how the transfer of Pakistan real estate should take place. Transfer of Property Act 1882 has a direct impact on the buying and selling of property. There are times when people tend to transfer a property to another person even when they are not legally entitled to do that, which can cause a major problem for the buyer who has paid his hard earned money to buy the property. Transfer of Property Act 1882 discusses in detail about the persons entitled to transfer the property, operation of transfer, oral transfer, and what types of properties can be transferred.

All of these Pakistan real estate laws have a major impact on the buying and selling of property in Pakistan, therefore real estate agents, buyers, and sellers of Pakistan real estate should be having a basic know how of these laws to avoid mix-ups in buying and selling properties in Pakistan.

Source: Zameen