Zimpapers Logo

Deed of Grant
A Deed of Grant is issued on land where there is no title deed except for a Certificate of State title.
As all the land in Zimbabwe originally belonged to the State before it was bequeathed to private ownership, a Deed of Grant simply means the granting of state land to an individual (or company) as the first title.
This is the title that some land developers will have and when they sell stands after developing the piece of land, purchasers will then be entitled to apply for full title deeds subject to certain conditions being met.
If the developer or beneficiary fails to meet obligations of grant, the land may revert back to the State whereupon it may be granted to another beneficiary.
Full title deeds
The documents aptly termed as title deeds represent the registration of a real right in a property at the Deeds Office.
This right is enshrined in our Constitution under Section 16 stating that no one should be deprived of property except in terms of the law and that no such law may permit the arbitrary deprivation of property.
This registration of names in the Deeds Office is intended to remove any doubts as to ownership of a particular property.
It becomes a mammoth task to challenge a person whose right is properly registered in the Deeds Office.
It is imperative on purchasers of property that they first verify with the Deeds Office the authenticity of particular title documents.
Cession
Cession is the ceding of property by written agreement or treaty with the purchaser getting immediate rights on the property.
In most situations, title deeds are scheduled to come out at a later period. The norm is the deeds will come out in the purchaser’s name.
This method of ownership is common with developers or new developments.
In essence the names of new owners of the developed or developing properties are registered at the developer’s office which can also be a local council.
I am going to analyse the cession requirements offered by council.
The seller of the property must be in possession of an Agreement of Sale, which they entered into with the council.
They are supposed to approach the district officer in whose jurisdiction the property falls to apply for a cession. 
The seller should take with them personal identification documentation, including their spouse’ personal identification documentation. A spouse must consent to a proposed cession regardless of whether the spouse is a co-purchaser or not of the property being sold.
The buyer is to accompany the seller when applying for the cession. It is a requirement of the council that the buyer should have attained the age of majority and be registered on the council housing waiting list.
It is prudent that buyer brings spouse along with them.
The district officer will complete a cession application which the seller and buyer will sign together with their spouse.
The district officer will retain a copy of the application on the property file at the district office and then sends the main copy to the head office.
The district officer will refer the buyer and seller to the head office where cession will be concluded.
Private developers may have their own internal processes which buyers and sellers have to follow. This normally is conducted and concluded at their offices of operation.
Sectional Title
This title is normally found in properties located in urban areas. This form of title allows the owner of land to register a notarial deed against the title deed to the land where he wishes to transfer an undivided share in the property which will be coupled with an exclusive right of occupation.
In a situation where there is a block of flats which one intends to dispose as separate individual flats on one piece of land, the notarial deed will allocate the number of shares to the portion of the building which will be subject to the exclusive right of occupation.
It will state the rights and obligations of the different property owners with this form of title.
The purchaser of the flat becomes the owner of the allocated share to the land and exclusive to the particular flat with rights that can be exercised against the world.
Share transfer
This form of transfer occurs when a property is owned by a company normally in the form of a shelf company.
The company has its name registered in the Deeds Office as the owner of the property.
The only asset in the company will be the property itself. The seller of property will be intending to sell the company that holds the property.
The transfer of the shares in the company to the new owner inevitably results in the new owner of company also becoming the owner of the property.
Where the transaction involves a share transfer, one still has to verify with the Deeds Office whether the company that is purported to own the property does own the property.
Once this is confirmed the potential investor has to visit the Companies House where they are to request to view the schedule of shares on that particular company. Where the schedule matches the share certificate available as proof of ownership, then one may proceed with the transaction.
It is, however, imperative in such transactions that one ascertains that there are no other liabilities affecting the company in which one intends to be a shareholder.

l Vengai Madzima is a property investment consultant and analyst with Wisdom Properties Real Estate. He can be contacted on 0772 468093 email: [email protected] or Facebook wisdompropertieszw