If you are interested in buying property in St Lucia, then there are a few things you should know. The following abstracts provide a guide to buying property in St.Lucia out of the perspective of a non-national or a national.

Once an Agreement for Sale has been entered the prospective purchaser will be confronted with a 10% deposit, and the cost of purchasing a property of 6-8% that will cover the stamp duty, the Alian Land Holding Licence, the Treasury receipt, legal costs and registration fees. If you are taking a mortgage, there will be an additional set up charge. In the case of St.Lucia-Homes Mortgage Applications an Engagement Fee is only charged once the loan is secured.

Property can be purchased as a natural person, a local company or an international company. Each option should be looked at closely to see which is most appropriate for the individual purchaser. At Property Café our team of St.Lucia-Homes property specialists will be more than happy to give you guidance and advice in choosing the right option for you!

All amounts in the following Schedule are in Eastern Caribbean Currency and use the following exchange rate: US $1.00 = ECC $2.7169

Non citizens require an Alien’s Land Holding Licence to purchase real estate in St Lucia. The process involves 4 government departments (Planning Department, the Attorney Generals’ Office, the Prime Minister’s Office or Cabinet for properties larger than 1 acre in size and the Governor General’s Office).

In the past this process has been known to take up to two years to complete. Meanwhile the record for obtaining the license is six weeks, but this is the exception rather than the rule. A realistic time-frame for the processing of the application is 4-6 months.

Up to 1 ACRE	US $1,859	ECD $5,000
Over 1 ACRE and Up to 10 ACRES	US $3,718	ECD $10,000
Over 10 ACRES and Up to 20 ACRES	US $7,435	ECD $20,000
Over 20 ACRES and Up to 50 ACRES	US $11,153	ECD $30,000
Over 50 ACRES and Up to 100 ACRES	US $14,870	ECD $40,000
100 ACRES and Over	US $18,588	ECD $50,000

• Non-refundable application fee of EC $5,000 (US $1,870).
• Profile of applicant/Directors of Company
  • Passport and Citizenship details (Copy Data pages of Passport).
  • Profession or employment status (short form CV/Resume).
  • Profession or employment status (short form CV/Resume).
  • Bankers’ reference.
• Police Certificate of good Character (PCGC) or Police Report from country of origin or current residence.
• The Statutory Declaration (to be provided by us for your signature), may be provided as an interim measure, but the PCGC must be provided within 6 months of the date of the application.
• Four (4) passport sized colour photographs of the applicant/directors.
• Purchase Price of the Property.

The local Buyer has to provide the following documents:

• A letter from Inland Revenue for Property Tax Clearance and Income Tax Clearance.
• A letter from National Insurance for Clearance.

Conveyancing in St.Lucia under the new land Registration Act 1984 is by an instrument in notarial form (in St.Lucia all Attorneys are Notaries) duly registered at the Land Registry.

The stamp duty payable on the deed of sale and the registration fee 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 Vendor pays a Vendor’s Tax to the Government which in the case of an alien is 10% of the sale price. There is no capital gains tax in St.Lucia but the Vendor’s Tax can be taken to be its equivalent.

There is a stamp duty of 2% of the purchase price of the property to register the Deed of Sale.

If a mortgage is taken, there is a government stamp duty of 1% to 1.2% of the purchase price to register the mortgage.

The legal fees are set at 1% to 1.2% of the purchase price of the property for the legal work. If a loan is required, the lawyer may charge an additional 1 to 1.2%. For obtaining Aliens license and preparing and registering the Deed of Sale a total of 3% is charged except where there are unusual difficulties in obtaining the Aliens Licence.

Power of attorney- if one is necessary EC $500.00.

The fees for these services are EC $150.00.
Please note that the above information is a rough guide which is subject to changes.