Mmachi Tobechukwu
Member
Before you buy that land with C of O, know this.
A lot of people get excited when they hear something like, “The land has C of O.” So this is what you need to know about the C of O.
The C of O is a Certificate of Occupancy issued by the government to the original owner (head lessor) for 99 years. Therefore, when you buy from the head lessor, the purchaser gets the unexpired residue of the 99 years.
What this means is this: a landowner obtains a C of O and is granted a 99-year lease by the government over the land. He uses the land for 20 years and then resells it. The new owner has just bought the remaining 79 years of that lease.
So, if that purchaser uses the land for another 15 years and resells it, the current purchaser is buying the land for 64 years. That’s how the years keep reducing. It means that at some point, another buyer may end up buying the land with only 10 years left on the lease.
What this means is that when you buy land with a C of O, you are buying the remainder of the government’s lease, which is why the purchaser must obtain the Governor’s Consent before the title can be legally transferred.
Many people wrongly believe that every buyer gets a fresh 99 years. That is not the law. The 99 years start counting from the date the original right of occupancy was granted, not from the date you bought the land.
However, when the 99-year term eventually expires, the person who is the holder of the right of occupancy at that time can apply to the government for a renewal or the grant of a fresh right of occupancy, subject to the provisions of the law.
A C of O therefore operates like a long-term lease granted by the government. So before you buy land because it “has C of O,” don’t just ask whether it has one, ask when the C of O was issued.
A lot of people get excited when they hear something like, “The land has C of O.” So this is what you need to know about the C of O.
The C of O is a Certificate of Occupancy issued by the government to the original owner (head lessor) for 99 years. Therefore, when you buy from the head lessor, the purchaser gets the unexpired residue of the 99 years.
What this means is this: a landowner obtains a C of O and is granted a 99-year lease by the government over the land. He uses the land for 20 years and then resells it. The new owner has just bought the remaining 79 years of that lease.
So, if that purchaser uses the land for another 15 years and resells it, the current purchaser is buying the land for 64 years. That’s how the years keep reducing. It means that at some point, another buyer may end up buying the land with only 10 years left on the lease.
What this means is that when you buy land with a C of O, you are buying the remainder of the government’s lease, which is why the purchaser must obtain the Governor’s Consent before the title can be legally transferred.
Many people wrongly believe that every buyer gets a fresh 99 years. That is not the law. The 99 years start counting from the date the original right of occupancy was granted, not from the date you bought the land.
However, when the 99-year term eventually expires, the person who is the holder of the right of occupancy at that time can apply to the government for a renewal or the grant of a fresh right of occupancy, subject to the provisions of the law.
A C of O therefore operates like a long-term lease granted by the government. So before you buy land because it “has C of O,” don’t just ask whether it has one, ask when the C of O was issued.