Planning permission
The Town and Country Development Planning Office (TCDPO) decides what properties can be built and where. Properties cannot be built on greenbelt land, unless you’re successful in getting permission from Town & Country to change the use of a lot of land.
If you’re buying an empty piece of land, the seller will always need to get a certificate of compliance from Town & Country to satisfy that the roads and services have been provided in accordance with planning or guidelines.
Before the purchaser can build a property on land for the first-time or improve property that’s already there, they require planning permission from Town & Country. This helpful and useful department should be brought into play early in any planning. There are set guidelines as to what can and cannot be done on any lots of land. There is a limit to the size of property that can be built on a piece of land and a limit to the height of the property in relation to the zone on which it is being built.
Planning permission can be a lengthy process often taking between two and six months to get the results in writing. Taking a meeting with the correct person from Town & Country beforehand can go a long way to ensuring that your application meets not only your requirements but those also of the Town & Country.
Your yearly ownership costs
The tax called ‘residential land tax’ is charged on the improved value in the following scale rates;
0% on the first 150,000 Barbados dollars
0 .1% on the next 250,000 Barbados dollars
0.45% on the next 600,000 Barbados dollars
where the value is greater than 1 million Barbados dollars the tax rate is 0.75%.
A tax cap exists. Therefore, a maximum of 60,000 Barbados dollars has been placed on residential properties as the most you can pay.
Unimproved land, land that just sits there before you do anything with it, is taxed at 0.6% of its value.
Pensioners get a specific deal applicable only to them. If they occupy their own residential home they pay land tax calculated and payable at just 50% of the improved value of the property in excess of 150,000 Barbados dollars
Agricultural land, where the land is used for that specific purpose, gains a rebate of 50% of the land tax paid. You should be sure to read the small print as many conditions apply.
Please go look over parts one and part three of this guide.
