Government Plans New Valuation Legislation for Land and Property in Barbados, Welcomed by Industry Associations

By Marlon Madden

The General Insurance Association of Barbados (GAIB) and the Barbados Estate Agents and Valuers Association (BEAVA) Inc. have welcomed news that the government plans to introduce new valuation legislation to ensure a more standardised process for valuing land and property in Barbados.

Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn recently announced that in addition to bringing valuation of property for insurance, land tax payments and property sale more in line with each other, the regulations would make provision for a house price index to better document sale of property across the country.

BEAVA President Arthur Ramsay told Barbados TODAY the changes would help speed up transactions.

“It should help bring clarity on the values in the marketplace because of the information that you will be able to access . . . . What they are looking to move towards is a full registration of titles within the country,” he said.

“Whereas the lawyers had to take longer time to do searches to confirm the property is free and clear from debt, encumbrances – a mortgage outstanding and things like that – once they go through the process of registering these lands and properties, when it comes to transferring of titles it would be a lot faster so the transactions should move a lot quicker.”

He said this meant greater efficiency and benefit for all those involved including the government, property owners, real estate agents, and property sellers and buyers.

Ramsay said that having access to the information in one place further helped with better valuing of properties in the same or similar location.

“With the absence of that data, it leaves too many things for your own interpretation. If you have the experience that is great, but the average person may not always have that experience and that can affect the values you end up with,” he said.

Ramsay said that overall, BEAVA members welcomed the move but some were of the view that “it may not happen in the short to medium term”.

Straughn had indicated that the Government will be moving full steam ahead with the digitisation of the land registry, which he said should significantly reduce the time it takes for the exchange of information and to close a transaction to between seven and 14 days.

Ramsay told Barbados TODAY this might be an ambitious target but any reduction in the current time it took to settle a transaction would be welcomed since this would allow the real estate industry to better plan, as well as benefit all other parties, including the buyer, seller and the bank.