FOREIGN PURCHASERS

MEMORANDUM FOR THE USE OF A FOREIGN
PURCHASER OF LAND IN ST. LUCIA

1. In this memorandum all references to Dollars are to East Caribbean
Currency Dollars (EC$). The current rate of exchange is 2.6882
Dollars to the United States Dollar.

2. By custom, all expenses incurred in preparing, executing, stamping
and registration of all documents (contracts, deeds, conveyances,
Leases, Licenses, Power of attorney etc) are for the account of the
Purchaser.

3. LICENCE - Non St. Lucians must obtain an Aliens Landholding
Licence from Government to purchase and hold the property as
owner (or as Lessees) and a one time non-refundable application fee
is payable at the time of making the application for the licence to
purchase or lease land.
The full licence fee payable to the Government is based on the size of
the property being purchased. The application fee and the licence fee
payable for a licence to purchase or lease are set out in the attached
schedule. This full licence fee is payable after notification of
Government’s approval of the licence. The purchaser’s
Attorney/Notary usually handles this application process and the
Attorney’s/Notary’s fee for obtaining the licence and preparing the
subsequent Deed of Sale are also set out in the Schedule attached
hereto. A Licence takes two to three months to process. The
purchaser must provide his Solicitor/Notary with the following before
the application can be made:

(1) Particulars of present ownership of the land

(2) Purpose for which the land is to be utilised

(3) A survey plan of the land

(4) The $1,500.00 application fee

(5) Police certificate of good character from applicant’s
country of domicile (this can take some time to obtain
and can be provided after the appliction is made)

(6) A statutory declaration of good character by the
applicant

(7) An Aliens Licence application form duly completed

(8) Four photographs of the applicant

(9) A full set of fingerprints of the applicant

(10) A banker’s reference for the applicant.

(11) A Personal reference by someone who has known the
applicant for a reasonable period of time

(12) Copies of the information pages of the Applicant’s
passport

4. The usual practise is for the Vendor and the Purchaser to enter into
an Agreement for the purchase/sale of the property. This agreement
is normally drawn up by the Purchaser’s Attorney/Notary and
registered in the St. Lucia Land Registry as a caution against the
property to be sold which effectively prevents its sale or disposition
by the Vendor during the period covered by the Agreement for sale.
If the Purchaser is out of St. Lucia it is preferable and easier for
him/her to give a Power of Attorney to someone in the Attorney’s
Office to sign the Agreement for sale and the subsequent Deed of
Sale (i.e the conveyance).

5. Contracts for the sale of land are binding on the signatories and can
only be avoided:-

(1) By the Vendor - for breach of its express terms by the
Purchaser or upon the Vendor returning twice the amount of
the deposit to the Purchaser unless the particular piece of
property is so special that the doctrine of specific performance
could be invoked in the Courts.
(2) By the Purchaser - if an Alien, his aliens landholding licence is
refused by the Government of St. Lucia or the Vendor has
breached the express terms of the contract. If the licence
application is refused, the Vendor must return the deposit. The
Government does not return the application fee payable on
application if it refuses the Licence.

6. CONVEYANCING in St. Lucia under the new land Registration Act
1984 is by instrument in notarial form (in St. Lucia all Attorneys are
Notaries and their conveyancing functions are performed in their
capacity as Notaries) duly registered at the Land Registry. The Land
Registry allocates a Block and Parcel Number for each piece of land.
A certificate is also issued by the Land Registry showing all
subsisting entries in the Land Register affecting that land. Both
parties appear before the executing Notary to whom they declare the
conditions governing the conveyance. It follows that under the
Notarial system both parties can be represented by the same Notary.
It is the duty of the Notary to conduct the appropriate searches in
the Land Registry and in the Office of Deeds and Mortgages.
If the Purchaser does not wish to attend before the Notary in St.
Lucia personally, he can appoint an Attorney to act on his behalf. A
draft of an appropriate Power of Attorney can be sent to you on
request.

The stamp duty payable on the Deed of Sale and the registration fee
(the amounts of which are also shown in the Schedule) are paid by
the Purchaser to the Notary who attends to the stamping of the
conveyance and its registration in the Registry of Lands. The
Notary will also prepare two (or more as required) certified copies
of the original conveyance. After registration the original
conveyance and one other certified copy is returned to the Notary
who must, by law, retain the original. The other certified copy is
sent to the Purchaser.
The Vendor pays a Vendor’s tax to the Government which in the
case of an Alien is 10% of the sale price of the land. There is no
capital gains tax in St. Lucia but the Vendor’s Tax can be taken to be
its equivalent.
SCHEDULE
All amounts in this Schedule are in Eastern Caribbean Currency
(US1.00 = ECC $2.6882)

1. Non refundable application fee payable to Government at the time
of making the application for the licence
$1,500.00

2. Licence fees payable to Governemnt when the Grant of the
Licence is approved by Government are as follows:
Licence to purchase or to hold land Up to 1 acre - $ 5,000.00
Over 1 acre and
up to 10 acres - $10,000.00
Over 10 acres
and up to 20 acres - $20,000.00
Over 20 acres
and up to 50 acres - $30,000.00
Over 50 acres
and up to 100 acres - $40,000.00
Over 100 acres - $50,000.00
Licence to lease land 2% of the aggregate rental payable in
respect of the full duration of the lease

3. Registration fee payable to Government for registering licence at
the Land Registry
$40.00

4. Stamp Duty payable to Government on the Deed of Sale for
purchase of the property
2% of the purchase price plus $10.00

5. Registration fee payable to Government for Registration of Deed
of Sale
$40.00

6. Attorney’s/Notary’s fees for obtaining Aliens Licence and
preparing and registering Deed of Sale
3% to 5% of the purchase price
McNamara & Co. will charge 3% except where there are unusual
difficulties in obtaining the Aliens Licence.

7. Power of Attorney (if one is necessary) -
$350.00.

8. On being instructed we would require a deposit of $300.00 to cover
incidental expenses associated with the application. This will be
accounted for at the completion of the transaction.