HAVE you been trying to get a land title for years with no success? Planning to pass property down to your children but worried about having to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in transfer and long-overdue property taxes? Maybe the National Land Agency’s Land Administration and Management Division (LAMD) can help.

Since it was established in 2018, LAMD has been steadily working to make it easier and more affordable to register land. It is not mandatory but there is now a big push to ensure all untitled land is registered within the next five years.

LAMD data indicate that progress is being made. In 2021 it was estimated that about 78 per cent of the country’s land was privately held and less than half of that amount was unregistered.

“We are, in fact, seeing an increase in the number of lands that are registered,” LAMD’s Senior Director Georgette Stewart-Harrisingh told justices of the peace (JPs) during a recent sensitisation session the division hosted to discuss land matters.

She pointed out that within the two-week period up to September 24 of this year, there had been about a two per cent increase in registered land. She cited St Ann — where the numbers had moved from 56.27 per cent to 58.9 per cent — and Trelawny, where the numbers had inched up from 55.5 per cent to 58.63 per cent.

She later told the Jamaica Observer’s Real Estate on the Rock that between 2019 and August 2025, a total of 9,652 new or clarified certificates of title were completed through the combined efforts of LAMD and its partner Geoland Title Limited. A further breakdown of the most recent numbers showed that there were 546 titles completed last year, 463 in 2023 and 518 in 2022.

Part of LAMD’s progress may be attributed to its work in certifying lawyers to help boost the efficiency of the application process. It began in 2019 with one session per quarter and was this year ramped up to two because of how popular the sessions are with members of the Bar. Up to July of this year, 732 attorneys had been certified by LAMD. And, since last year, LAMD has processed, on behalf of attorneys, 200 to 250 matters each month, on average — which would translate into titles for lawyers’ clients.

Now it’s time to get JPs fully on board — a logical choice as their signatures are needed on many documents required during land-related transactions.

“We want you to help us to tell other people about how they can get their land registered, because we want, before 2030, to have everyone; we want all of these figures to go up to 100 per cent,” Stewart-Harrisingh urged JPs who attended the recent session.

“We want you to help us to share with your friends, your neighbours, the people in your community, the benefit of bringing their matters under the Special Provisions Act (SPA),” she added.

But even as she enlisted their help, Stewart-Harrisingh cautioned JPs to refrain from giving legal advice on property-related matters.

“When I used to be in private [legal] practice, clients bring documents where JPs prepare sale agreements, JPs prepare lease agreements, and they’re not properly done. They don’t take into consideration what happens if the sale falls through. They don’t take into consideration some critical things that are necessary to make a document legal; and so when something goes wrong and that client now needs to use a document in court, we are unable to use it,” she cautioned.

“I know [people] come and they sometimes don’t have the money; but without expertise, I would advise that you send them to an attorney so they can get proper legal advice,” Stewart-Harrisingh urged.

She also appealed to them to refer individuals to LAMD.

“I’m sure persons come to you and say, ‘I want to add my daughter, but I can’t afford the transfer tax. Send them to LAMD because they can get a waiver of transfer tax. You might have persons who come and say, ‘Daddy died many years ago, but the will was not probated. We can’t afford to probate the will’. Send them to LAMD because we will help them to probate the will at a reduced price,” said the senior director.

Getting titles into people’s hands opens up the possibility for them to harness the benefits of land ownership. These include using property as collateral, selling, renting or leasing it, as well as passing it down to their heirs.

In response to questions from the Sunday Observer, Stewart-Harrisingh outlined some LAMD initiatives that can save property owners or prospective owners time and money.

“[Through] Section 5, waivers under the Special Provisions Act, where a person has had an informal subdivision for over seven years and cannot afford to apply for a subdivision approval through the municipal corporation, LAMD can apply to the minister on that person’s behalf for waivers of subdivision approval. [There can also be a] waiver of transfer tax where the transfer is not for value. [Another potential benefit is] reduced registration fee as fees are based on the tax roll value and not the true value of the property,” she explained.

A waiver of subdivision approval means the development being applied for will not be restricted by any covenants nor will there be any of the usual restrictions under the Land Development and Utilisation Act about how the land can and cannot be used.

Exemption from transfer tax is a benefit available to someone who is giving property to someone else, as opposed to getting value/money from a sale. For example, a parent who transfers land valued at $10 million to a child would attract a transfer tax of $200,000 (based on the current tax rate of two per cent). However, if that transaction is done through LAMD, the fee is based on the tax roll value of the land, which is a lot less than the true value. Land with a true value of $10 million may have a tax roll value of $3 million, for example, attracting a processing fee of about $61,000 — significantly less than $200,000 in transfer tax.

Another significant benefit is related to property taxes.

“Previously, one of the requirements would have been an up-to-date certificate of payment of taxes. With the amendments, the certificate of taxes will be submitted at the provisional stage. So once you know that your matter has gone to the referee of titles, and you’re adjudged the owner of the property, it’s at that stage you will pay the taxes if it was sent to the referee of titles,” said Stewart-Harrisingh.

If the matter is referred to adjudication, once an adjudication certificate is issued, property taxes are “paid at the back end, or an instruction can be given to the registrar of titles to lodge a caveat”.

“It doesn’t mean that you never pay the property taxes, it just means that it will not prevent the issue of the certificate of title. And that has helped a lot, because the property taxes have proven prohibitive for persons to apply for titling. So the fact that you can pay the property taxes at the back end, or you can get that title or registrar caveat is lodged, you’ll have your title. And when you’re ready to deal with your title, then you can pay the property tax; so those are some of the benefits,” Stewart-Harrisingh added.

As she explained, LAMD handles a wide range of applications — from new titles to untangling complicated webs that make it challenging to determine the legitimate owner.

“It aims to assist persons who already have titles to do transactions in relation to their titles, for example, noting the death of a joint proprietor, or assisting with the administration where the owner is deceased and beneficiaries need the interest to be passed to them, and also where persons wish to add or remove a name,” she told the Sunday Observer.

St Catherine was the first parish selected to benefit after passage of the Registration of Titles Cadastral Mapping and Tenure Clarification (Special Provisions) Act. The strategy was to gauge how effective it would be to focus all the resources on getting titles. The next phase was to focus on parishes with the highest levels of non-registration: St Thomas, Portland, St Mary, and St Catherine. Now it is widely available.

“The Registration of Titles Cadastral Mapping and Tenure Clarification (Special Provisions) Act allows for persons who have properties that fall within declared areas to get certain waivers and exemptions. All parishes in Jamaica have been declared under this Act, save and except for parts of Kingston and St Andrew. The declared areas in Kingston and St Andrew are: Tel Aviv, Hope Estates, Rose Town, Jackson Town, Ackee Walk, Rock Hall, Lawrence Tavern and its environs, Golden Spring, Temple Hall, and Joppa,” Stewart-Harrisingh told the Sunday Observer.