Registration of title under the Land Registration Act, Chapter 229 of the Laws of Barbados concerns the establishment of ownership of land, the boundaries thereof and entry of the title to the land and all relevant legal data on a separate folio or folios of the Land Register together with a unique number (registration). A registration district is an area of a parish that is declared by the Minister responsible for Lands to be subject to the system of land registration.

Whether dealing with registered or unregistered title in Barbados, there are 4 main steps in the process of purchasing property. They are:

• Pre-contract negotiations;
• Agreement for sale (contract);
• Examining title and Requisitions; and
• Completion.

The Vendor and the Purchase will usually conclude pre contract negotiations during which they will settle the sale price and other terms and conditions of the sale. If either the Vendor or the Purchaser resides outside of Barbados, the Agreement for Sale will be made subject to the obtaining of Exchange Control Authority approval for the sale.

Subsequent to the pre contract negotiations, the next step is to proceed to a formal Agreement for Sale usually prepared by the Vendor’s Attorney. This document contains the rights and obligations of both parties. Upon execution of the Agreement for Sale, the Purchaser pays an ‘earnest’ deposit to the Vendor’s Attorney to be held in escrow until completion of the Sale.

Examination of Title is the next step in the process. This must be done by the Purchasers’ Attorney-at-Law to ensure that the title when it passes to their client is good and marketable. An essential part of this process is the forwarding of Requisitions on Title to the Vendor’s Attorney requiring confirmations that certain legal and regulatory obligations have been or will be met.

Completion: In this part of the Conveyancing process, provided that the examination of title is completed successfully, the Vendor and the Purchaser’s Attorneys-at-Law meet to exchange relevant documents of title for the balance of purchase price.