What to verify before purchasing property in Sierra Leone

Start by identifying what kind of land right you are actually buying

The first question in a Sierra Leone property acquisition is not 'Is there a conveyance?' It is 'What land right is being offered, under which tenure system, and who has authority to transfer it?' Sierra Leone's land framework includes statutory and customary systems, and the 2022 land reforms created a National Land Commission alongside stronger recognition and recording of customary land rights.

The National Land Commission states that it maintains and develops land-registration systems, supports title registration for statutory land and records customary land rights through district and chiefdom structures. The Customary Land Rights Act 2022 protects family and community interests and introduced important safeguards around customary land. This means due diligence should be matched to the location and tenure rather than applying one checklist mechanically everywhere.

For a buyer, the practical rule is simple: identify the applicable land regime and the actual rights being transferred before evaluating the paperwork supplied by the seller. If that requires a Sierra Leone lawyer, licensed surveyor or land authority, bring them in before the transaction becomes financially difficult to unwind.

Verify the seller, the documents and the public record

A seller's copy of a deed or conveyance is a starting document, not the end of verification. Current OARG guidance describes a land-registration process that includes document assessment and a purchaser title search. The Ministry of Lands' online portal also directs users to land-registration and title-verification services, while the National Land Commission describes title search, site inspection, survey and public notice as elements of its registration services.

A legal professional should review the chain of documents, names, signatures, dates, registration details, powers of attorney where used, company authority where a company is selling, and any inconsistency between the document and the land being shown to the buyer. The buyer should also ask whether there are mortgages, court orders, competing claims, leases, family interests or other restrictions that need to be resolved.

Registration matters should never be treated as an afterthought. Sierra Leone's Registration of Instruments framework gives registration serious legal significance. Because timing, instrument type and legal effect can be technical, the safe approach is to have a qualified lawyer manage the registration implications rather than relying on a general internet checklist.

A document can look convincing and still be incomplete, unregistered, inconsistent with the parcel on the ground or signed by someone without sufficient authority.

Match the paperwork to the physical land

Legal-document review and physical verification solve different problems. A site inspection should confirm the parcel being shown, access, visible occupation, surrounding uses, current structures, obvious encroachment concerns and any discrepancy that needs professional investigation. A licensed surveyor may be required to confirm the survey plan, coordinates, boundaries and relationship between the document and the land on the ground.

The National Land Commission lists cadastral surveys, boundary verification and site inspections among its land-administration services. The Ministry of Lands also provides survey services. This is particularly important where fences, informal markers or neighbouring occupation do not obviously match the plan presented by the seller.

Do not ask an ordinary property agent or asset manager to 'confirm the legal boundary' simply because they visited the land. A management inspection can document what is visible; boundary certification belongs with the appropriate survey professional and authority.

• Visit the exact site before final commitment.
• Compare the site shown to the survey plan and transaction documents.
• Check practical access, not just the parcel itself.
• Document existing buildings, occupants and apparent third-party use.
• Escalate boundary uncertainty to a licensed surveyor.

If there is a building, verify its planning and permit position

A buyer who is paying for a house, commercial building or development opportunity is buying more than land. The status of the structure can affect value and future use. The Ministry of Lands, Housing and Country Planning currently offers building-permit, planning, land-registration and survey services through its portal.

Published Ministry procedures for construction permits include title or lease verification, survey plans, site inspection, review for compliance, commencement notice, inspection at completion and a completion certificate process. Planning-permit procedures also include site inspection and land-use conformity checks. A buyer should therefore ask for the relevant permits and verify them through appropriate channels where the development history matters.

For an unfinished project, the buyer may also need an engineer, quantity surveyor or building surveyor to assess construction quality, remaining work and likely cost to complete. That technical inspection is different from a valuation and different again from legal title due diligence.

For customary land, verify family and community authority carefully

Customary land transactions require particular care because interests may belong to families or communities rather than a single individual acting alone. The Customary Land Rights Act 2022 protects customary land rights, addresses family and community land and includes safeguards against discriminatory and improper land dealings. The National Land Commission says district and chiefdom structures are intended to record customary rights and help prevent illegal sales and disputes.

A buyer should not assume that the person who introduces the land or physically occupies it is the only person whose consent or interest matters. The applicable approvals, family or community interests and registration process should be confirmed through the relevant land structures and a lawyer familiar with the transaction.

For larger investments, leases or transactions affecting communities, additional statutory consultation, consent, environmental or investment requirements may apply. Those should be treated as specialist legal work, not reduced to a standard residential-purchase checklist.

Control the money as carefully as the documents

Even good due diligence can be undermined by a weak payment process. Before paying, define the transaction stages: initial reservation or deposit if appropriate, completion of legal and survey checks, signing of the agreed instruments, satisfaction of conditions, registration steps, handover and final balance. The exact sequence should be designed by the professionals responsible for the transaction.

Every payment should identify who is being paid, what contractual step has been satisfied, who authorised the payment and what evidence is retained. If an intermediary is collecting money, understand whose account it is, why that route is being used and what receipt or legal acknowledgement is provided.

A buyer living abroad should be especially wary of pressure to send money quickly because 'another buyer is waiting'. Urgency is not verification. A disciplined acquisition process should be able to pause when a title search, survey, permit check or legal review raises an unanswered question.

A practical pre-acquisition checklist

No checklist can replace legal advice, but the following questions help a buyer organise the process before money is committed.

• What land right or tenure is being transferred, and which authority records it?
• Who is the seller, and what evidence shows they have authority to sell?
• Has an independent title/record search been completed through the appropriate channel?
• Do the legal documents, survey plan and physical site describe the same parcel?
• Are there occupants, tenants, family interests, community interests or competing claims?
• Has a licensed surveyor checked the parcel where boundary certainty is material?
• If buildings exist, what planning, building and completion records are available?
• Has the physical condition been inspected by the appropriate technical professional?
• Has an independent valuation been obtained where price justification matters?
• What conditions must be satisfied before each payment is released?
• Who is responsible for registration, taxes, fees and final handover documentation?