By Momodou Jarju
The Minister for Lands, Regional Government and Religious Affairs, Baboucarr Bouy, has informed members of the sixth legislature that the Gambia Government is developing a policy aimed at regulating estate agents and agencies.
“The Ministry as of now does not have a policy in place to regulate real estate agents and agencies. However, the Ministry has embarked on the preparation of a real estate regulation for The Gambia in constructive collaboration with all stakeholders,” he said in response to a question posed by the member for Serrekunda, Musa Cham who inquired whether the lands ministry has policies to regulate estate agents.
The minister added: “The regulation aims to ensure the protection of the rights of all players in the industry, improve transparency and accountability, uphold ethical practices and ensure conformity of all developments with approved plans, to name a few.”
In his supplementary question, Hon. Cham asked the minister whether estate agents are mandated to sell lands without developing them. The minister replied in the negative, saying the matter is left between the two parties—estate agencies and the clients.
“So, for the Ministry, as far as that transaction is concerned, I think it should be a matter between the estate agency and the client. In the case of the land that is developed, the issue of the building permits will have to be secured,” he said.
Lawmaker Cham further asked the lands minister whether they have policies that determine the price of land depending on the location. The minister responded in the negative again.
“But we are aware that for the purpose of tax payments, the GRA has actually determined the cost of land in certain localities for the purpose of tax payments. But for the Ministry to say that the cost of land per square metre in this area is going to be X, and Y in another area, that has not happened,” he explained.
The Member for Janjanbureh, Hon. Omar Jammeh, asked the minister to state the best framework, between a regulation and a policy, to guide the activities of estate agents in the country. The two have to go hand in hand, the minister replied, noting that the regulation is going to take care of the legal aspect, while the policy will deal with operations and processes.
Miniter Bouy further said depending on the transaction between the estate agency and the client, what is being used to guide them is the land laws with respect to leases, etc.
“But the need for a policy that would be regulating these estate agencies is there, and the Ministry is working on that,” he disclosed.
The member for Kiang West, Hon. Lamin Ceesay, quizzed the minister about any emergency measure put in place to regulate the real estate agencies to ensure lands are sustainably managed before the regulation they are working on is formulated.
“Honourable Speaker, may I inform the Honourable Member that the issue of an emergency policy should not be what would drive the regulation or policy regarding the issue of land being sold by estate agencies,” the minister responded.
Bouy said most of the lands purchased by people from estate agencies are secured from individuals or communities and they are not state lands. When these transactions happen, he said the Ministry ensures the documentation that is required for a building to be constructed or a permit is given.
“But really, you want to come up with a policy on a matter that is between a client and the service provider without having a policy that is going to guide generally, would not be very easy to deal with. That’s why you want to focus on getting the policy and the regulation. But for now, the transaction between the client and the service provider, as far as these estate agencies are concerned, if you look at the issue of the land in question, is either owned by individuals or owned by communities,” the minister explained.
