Post-War Urban Land Markets in Luanda, Angola Presented by Development Workshop Angola To the World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty Washington 23 to 26 th April 2012
Post Conflict Urban Challenges Forced migration during the war, flight to the safe haven of the capital city. Massive destruction of social and physical infrastructure. One of Africa s most rapid urban growth, partly due to the war but also high birth rate continues even after conflict ended. 60% are under 18.
Over 75% population of Luanda in musseques (Kimbundu word for sandy soil) The poor survive by trading in the informal market sector. Over 60% population depend on the informal sector for employment Urban Poverty IMPORTANCE OF INFORMAL EMPLOYMENT ECONOMY State Company 5% Public Administration 10% Private Sector 19% Other 1% Business (informal) 6% Unpaid Family (informal) 16% Self Employment (informal) 43%
Legal Environment Angola has inherited their legal framework from the Portuguese Civil Code which did not easily accommodate itself to African land tenure practice. The post independence constitution affirmed the State to be the owner and manager of land. Land Laws of 1991 and 2004 affirmed that colonial cadastre as the basis of land titling therefore weakening traditional land claims and removed provisions for occupation in good-faith. Titles for urban land are only issued in fully urbanised planned areas but by-laws for the regularisation of periurban land have still not been published.
Current Oportunities The Angolan Government has adopted an ambitious policy that promotes the construction of one million houses by 2012 Through this programme the Government aims to eliminate most slum settlements known as Musseques. In this process the Government intends to facilitate self-help construction of 685,000 homes The Land Law of 2004 reaffirms the authority of the state as the primary manager and owner of all land resources
Use of Geographic Information Systems Participative Mapping Remote sensing: Applied the tools of GIS to urban information gathering using aerial photographs and satellite images.
Settlement Typologies in Luanda TIPOLOGY Description POPULATION % of total Population A Old Urban Centre More than 35 years 165 693 3% B New Suburbs and Condominiums New Post-War 163 721 3% C Bairro Popular (Township model) More than 35 years 83 290 1% D Social Housing Zones New Post-War 118 380 2% E Self-help Zoned (Auto-construção) New Post-War 396 736 7% F Transitional Musseques Post Independence 622 950 11% G Organised Musseques More than 35 years 477 956 8% H Musseques Antigos More than 35 years 2 312 701 40% I Peri-urban Musseques Post Independence 1 237 028 21% J Rural Settlements 241 787 4% K Industrial Zones 2 957 0,05% Total 5 823 200 100%
Where is the demand for land from? Most buyers are from other municip alities in the province of Luanda 76.6% 18% come from other provinces Only 4.6% are from the same neighbourhood. Outro municipio em Luanda 76.6% Outra província 18.0% Outro país 0.5% Sem resposta 0.3% Mesmo Bairro 4.6%
How buyers acquire and secure their land A total of 61.3% of the sample bought their land on the informal market. Declaration of purchase & sale Contract of sale Land site survey map Title or precarious occupation Title of Surface Rights Land Registry License of occupation Contrato de compra e venda 12.2% Recebi uma declaração 49.1% Nenhum documento 14.4% Croquis de Localização 7.3% Outra 0.0% Titulo de ocupação precario 5.6% Direito de Superfície 0.5% Registro Predial 0.5% Licença de arrem atação 0.2% Testemunhado por tecnico do governo 6.8% Acordo foi publicado 1.5% Recibo da utilidade publica 1.0% Cartao de morador 0.7% Only 6.8% of the total sample has legalized possession in accordance with current legislation.
Average Land prices Most respondents indicated they paid for access (61%). This confirms that the purchase of land is the dominant form of access in periurban areas. Preco Medio US$ por m2 $500 $450 $400 $350 $300 $250 $200 $150 $100 $50 $0 Zona Industrial Assentamentos Rurais Habitacoes Sociais Musseques Perifericos Musseques Ordenados Autoconstrucao Dirigida Musseques Antigos Urbanizacao Nova Bairro Popular Musseques de Transicao Urbanizacao Antiga
Map of land prices in Luanda in 2010
How land transactions financed The formal banking sector have shown some fear of entrance into the real-estate market. Most funding comes from family (62%) and friends (27%). Family 59.0% Bank 7.6% Employer 8.4% Friend 25.0%
Reasons given by banks for lack willingness to finance land & housing The lack of clear legislation on land that allows the use of property as collateral Long repayment periods The lack of a government policy on bank credit The lack of ownership documents by borrowers The lack of a culture of timely repayment of loans by borrowers
Main Findings There is a significant informal market for land in Luanda. At least 61.3% of transactions involve financial payments. Transactions are documented, proof that these are not really informal. These transactions are considered secure and legitimate by the majority of buyers (85%). Most transactions are legally insecure as only 6.8% of them can be validated with officially recognosed documents The poor are at risk of loss of their property (land and housing) as a result of demolitions and relocations
Key Recommendation 1 Recognize the right of occupation in good faith recognition of the de facto rights of occupation of urban land, with appropriate simple procedures to adjudicate this. legitimate proofs acceptable for demonstrating occupation in good faith need to be defined the most common forms of proofs of ownership that families currently use should be incorporated into new legal practice
Key Recommendation 2 Introduce the principle of incremental tenure into legal regulation and practice Integrate existing practice into an inclusive policy Existing informal arrangements for access to land are well established and have strong legitimacy among the peri-urban population. These existing practices should be recognized and framed into law simplify land regularisation should be used in order to eliminate the enormous backlog of requests facilitate the gradual progression in stages from occupation rights to titles provision of street naming and numbering may be an early stage of tenure recognition
Huambo Pilot project on Land Pooling Land Pooling or readjustment provides a market mechanism to regularize informal settlements, providing sustainable infrastructure and access to services while at the same time strengthening the rights of tenure and protection of assets of the poor.
Outcomes on Influencing Legislation DW was commissioned by the Ministry of Urbanism to prepare a Draft Decree for the legalization of tenure in peri-urban areas that was presented to the Council of Ministers for approval. The aim is to bring Angolan land legislation into closer alignment with international good practice and to improve the land tenure rights of citizens living in periurban districts who risk losing their assets under the existing law.
Obrigado