Buying property in Bentota

I am extremely interested in purchasing property in bentota. Does anyone have any advice on this please, eg if I purchase a property do I automatically get the land with it, or do I purchase the land and then it enables me to build???? Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks a lot.

PS I am an expat - Brit

Cheers

Buying property in Bentota

Hi there,

1) It%26#39;s more complex in Lanka than in Europe. There are all kinds of legal constructions around land, houses etc. Consult a good lawyer in Lanka before signing anything!

2) Foreigners pay a whopping 100% (yes one hundred) tax on real estate purchases, compared to locals. There are ways around it with the help of trustable (sic!) locals, e.g. 99-year lease on land and house, but all have their challenges. See e.g. www.lankaland.com for some tips (next to lists of quite overpriced properties).

3) Finally note that, unless you%26#39;re above age 50-55 (pensionado) or lots of spare money, you%26#39;re formally not allowed to stay longer than 3 months per year in Lanka. Could be important for some situations.

Hope this helps a bit,

%26lt;Erik%26gt; %26amp; [Sandya] - proud owners of a 2nd home in Lanka, but then we%26#39;re semi-local ourselves...

Buying property in Bentota

Hi,

I agree totally with Erik, be extremely cautious before any commitment...

As Erik has said, you need the long term assistance of a very trustworthy , Sri Lankan , local friend to avoid the 100 percent government tax on foreigners buying property and a very trustworthy Lankan lawyer.

I was actually offered some land on the south coast, for free but when I looked into the foreign ownership laws , I figured it was just too much hassle.

I assume that as expat you%26#39;re working in dollars but it%26#39;s certainly not a good time to buy at the moment if you%26#39;re working in sterling.

Rod.

Hi!

Completely agree with Erik and Rob. I%26#39;m living in Sri lanka and see so many foreigners who have troubles with their land. The main problem is the ownership. Before buy a land, you must go yourself to the land registry office to know who are really owners of the land you like. The land has a number you must find. So many lands have many owners (sometime till 100 owners!). And one of the owners decide to sell all the land as if he is the only owner... but the other owners discover it some years later and you get a big and very long problem... and finally a very small piece of land.

Good luck,

Severine

I also agree with the above comments.I also was going to buy a house with land near the river in bentota. This was last April but after all the laws and hassel I declined. Now it is even worse for foreign people as the exchange rate is bad. We was getting around 239 to £ now it is around 160. Big difference on a property.

Bhanuka:

The other 2 posts I also proposed for removal. This forum is

a) Primarily for tourist info, though some info on related subjects like settling in the country can be wise.

b) Never ever for SELF-Promotion. You%26#39;re blatantly violating that rule...

So please stop, and hoping to see you back in the forum in other posts with tourist info....

%26lt;Erik%26gt;

I came very close to buying land in Mirissa last month but pulled out at the 11th hour because it just became too complex and risky. I had been dealing with a trusted local who I%26#39;ve known for a long time and a good lawyer but it was amazing that they felt I had never been serious when I changed my mind and were angry because they%26#39;d lost face by helping me!!

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