Real estate Investments in Fiji: The Republic of Fiji has more than 300 tropical islands and is a mecca for foreigners seeking a piece of real estate in a developing and central South Pacific country. Fiji has three types of land and was a British colony. Freehold, native, or crown (state) is Fiji land.
Freehold land in Fiji
Freehold is the only land type that can be acquired completely by non-residents. There is no time limit for the ownership of free families and, therefore, it is often considered the safest term.
Like Australia and New Zealand, Fiji has used the Torrens title system, which is named after the Australian Sir Richard Torrence. Fiji adopted this system and implemented the regulation of land ownership and behavior through the Land Transfer Act.
An important note of the Torrance system is that titles are indefinite, so they cannot be void or revoked from previous events unless the titles were fraudulently obtained, and the Fijian courts have judicial rules that have given this doctrine to be retained.
If you are investing in Fiji real estate through a real estate agent, make sure they are registered with Fiji’s Real Estate Agents Licensing Board, the only statutory body in Fiji that provides real estate agents and salaries. Approves transactions with real estate.
The administration of Fiji’s freehold land is controlled by the registrar of title, who usually establishes direct contact with lawyers performing duties on behalf of their clients.
About 8% of the land is in Fiji. Compared to the main towns and cities of Fiji, the northern part of Fiji is located in the northern part of Fiji, along with Rakiraki and Pacific Harbor, as well as the towns of Savusavu and the islands of Taveuni and Koro.
A person who is a Fiji citizen
- The trustee of the trust’s assets is a Fiji citizen whose beneficial interest is more than 15% of the trust’s income.
- Foreigners (non-residents) who obtain vacant state land must construct residential housing within two years from the date of sale or lease of the vacant land at a minimum cost of FJD 250,000.
- It is important to note that penalties for non-compliance include fines of up to $ 100,000 and a 10% state fine or freehold of the price of land.
- Suburban state and freehold land located within municipal boundaries cannot be traded, transferred, or leased by immigrants.
However, foreigners may own property within municipal boundaries if that property is a strata title or a residential dwelling within an integrated tourism development, such as Denarau Island in Nada, Naso Island. Foreigners can also acquire hotel operations licensed under the Hotel and Guest House Act.
Similarly, foreigners are allowed to sell or transfer to the state for industrial or commercial purposes, or to keep it for free.
State and freehold land for tenancy for foreigners cannot be taken for more than 5 years. According to the Succession, Probate, and Administration Act, such land can be transferred or leased to foreigners, immediate family members, or given to foreigners.
Native land in Fiji
More than 90% of the region of Fiji is known as the indigenous Fijian, I Taukei. The original land is communally owned. All land and leases are treated by the I Taukei Land Trust Board (TLTB), with rental fees and premiums evenly distributed among all the surviving members of each unit.
It is important to note that if you want to lease the original land, you should do so through the TLTB, not contacting anyone separately because the original land in Fiji is communally all landlord units. And is owned by all surviving members of the clans. Transactions made directly with individuals and the approval of the TLTB are not officially recognized and are illegal without the communal consent of the units of the transaction.
You can see that some properties for sale sit on the original land, and thus these property titles will have subjective years left depending on the type of lease. For example, a farmhouse may be listed with the description, “Original lease, agriculture, 15 years left.”
The purchase of the title of the lease will be transferred to its new owners, but the ownership will be based on the lease and not as a freehold.
For Fiji’s current original leases, the TLTB has agreed to the transfer of title in consultation with landowners or for leases exceeding an extended time limit.
For the new original leases, most of the work is done by the TLTB, with 60% of landlord unit members protected with the consent of most landlords.
Many leases can be purchased for 99 years, although the timeframe for leasing agricultural leases has traditionally been shorter.
There are indigenous titles that can be purchased for agricultural, commercial, education, industrial, residential, tourism, forestry, water, and mineral leasing.
Real estate Investments in Fiji
- State-owned land in Fiji is commonly referred to as the Crown due to Fiji’s past as a British colony.
- The Crownlands of Fiji is administered by the Ministry of Administrative and Mineral Resources.
- Similar to original land, Crown land can only be leased and not purchased outright.
- Fiji has around 4% crowns with 18,000 leases.
There are several types of Crown lands classified according to their occupation:
- Schedule A is the original land that was transferred to the state due to the extinction of their (indigenous) owners. Thus, Fiji’s traditional culture is patriarchal, therefore, these extinctions are usually referred to as male living members of land-dwelling units. According to Fiji’s Native Land Ordinance and the I Taukei Land Trust Act, landowners who are extinct are transferred to the I Taukei Land Trust Board (TLTB), which manages all Native-owned lands. There are over 149,000 Schedule A land that has been brought back.
- Schedule B islands that were unclaimed during the Land Claims Commission which began in 1885 were returned to the I Taikai Land Trust Board (TLTB). More than 65,000 Schedule B lands have been returned.
- State freehold land is land acquired by individuals from the state, mostly derived from the colonial sugar refinery. CSR had a residential complex for its mills and workers in Fiji.
Under the high watermark of the sea, rivers drains, and groundwaters are inscribed within the Special Economic Zone of Fiji.
Although state land was acquired from their original, original landowners, if the land was acquired before the 2013 constitution, it cannot be returned.