Investigating the perception of high land registration costs in Uganda.

Abstract

Land registration is a very crucial factor for any country to manage its land and land resources. With its various benefits such as increased tenure security, improved investment on land related activities, land registration remains a cornerstone to increased economic developments in a country. However, there is a general perception among the general public in Uganda that the costs of land registration are so high hence leading to low levels of registered rights on land. Despite this, there are key literature gaps to ascertain if this perception is justified. Thus the objectives of this study was to find out the basis for this perception, identify the contributors to the expenses incurred in the land registration process and then identify possible ways to address this problem of perception. This was accomplished through questionnaires on pre-identified criteria to a sample of 237 respondents including surveyors. The results revealed that, few people had dealt with land professionals, used other professional services and the informal costs along the process outweighed the formal ones. Hence, it can be people possess little knowledge on the land registration process. Therefore, policies should be formulated to increase the information flow by enhancing the sensitization of the people on the entire process and this could include the media too.