The Constitution of Pakistan, under its article 23, gives its citizens the right to acquire, hold and dispose of property in any part of Pakistan and it does not differentiate between men and women. In Pakistan, property purchasing and selling is governed by certain four main laws that you need to comply with when performing real estate property transaction.
There are 4 major laws that are consider to abide by during purchase and sale of real estate in Pakistan.
- REGISTRATION ACT 1908
- STAMP ACT 1899
- LAND REVENUE ACT 1967
- TRANSFER OF PROPERTY ACT 1882
1. REGISTRATION ACT 1908
Registration Act 1908 has fifteen sections to check; the registration of the real estate, the establishment of registration, describes where the properties can be registered, the time of presentation of the documents and the place of presenting the documents. It is quite a comprehensive law that guides you on all matters of real estate registration in Pakistan, while leaving no ambiguity.
2. STAMP ACT 1899
The Stamp Act 1899 directly affects the revenue of the government. This law directs the buyers and sellers to pay a certain amount to government in form of stamp papers used to make the legal agreements of buying and selling property. The Stamp Act 1899 instructs buyers and sellers of Pakistan real estate to legally validate their buying and selling of properties through paying a specified amount to the government.
3. LAND REVENUE ACT 1967
The Land Revenue Act 1967 lays out the entire structure and hierarchy of the land and revenue department in Pakistan. It describe the different powers given to the different land and revenue department offices and their right jurisdictions. This law also instructs on the collection of land revenue. Some of the more critical issues like conducting of surveys, marking of boundaries, partitions, and arbitrations are also included in Land Revenue Act 1967.
4. TRANSFER OF PROPERTY ACT 1882
The Transfer of Property Act 1882 discusses in detail about how the transfer of Pakistan real estate should perform. This law has direct impact on the buying and selling of property i.e. times when people tend to transfer a property to another person even when they are not legally entitled to do that. It also deals in detail about the persons entitled to transfer the property, operation of transfer, oral transfer, and what types of properties can be transferred.