If you have purchased land in Anambra, it is important that you authenticate your registered land survey plan. Contacting a surveyor to help you go through the process of registering your landed property is the right thing to do. You should do this even before you proceed to pay for the parcel of land.
Properly register your property with the right authorities and by a registered surveyor is also very important.
In this article, you will learn how to verify the registration and authenticity of your surveyor’s survey plan.
Read Also: : 7 Questions You Should Ask Before Buying a Property in Awka
What is a Registered Land Survey Plan?
Before you authenticate your land survey plan in Anambra State, you must first register it. A registered land survey plan is a legal document that shows that a certain piece/parcel of land belongs to the said titleholder. This document is legal because the government recognizes it. It is recognize as belonging to the title holder named on it.
A land survey plan is a document that a licensed or registered surveyor meticulously prepares. This document contains information gathered from a field survey at the exact location of the land. It contains actual information about the exact location of the land, its boundaries, the size of the land, and any existing landmarks.
Usually in Nigeria, the top part of the document contains information on the name of the current owner of the land. It also contains the bush name/family name of the original owners from whom the transfer of ownership or purchase of the land is made, the UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) zone where the land falls which is either Zone 31, 32, or 33 and the area/total size of the land.
The middle or body area of the document contains a drawing representing what the piece of land looks like, on the ground or physically. Its boundaries and distances are also shown with clarity.
Furthermore, the coordinates of the starting point, where the surveyor initiated the field survey, are also included. These coordinates are easy to spot because they are a set of numbers ending with mE and mN.
At the sharp edges of the land are the beacon numbers of the land. Beacon numbers are unique identification numbers that are peculiar to your land alone. They are a combination of letters and numbers and their presentation style differs from state to state. That is, each state in Nigeria has its own unique way of presenting its beacon numbers.
Without beacons on a piece of land, there is no evidence that the land has been surveyed. This is also the reason that land grabbers and touts target it, ensuring they destroy it whenever they want to take over another person’s property.
Towards the bottom of the document, you will find the registration number of the piece of land. Other information you’ll find are the date the land was registered, the signature, name, seal, and registration number of the licensed surveyor who registered the land.
The above information is the major feature of a land survey plan. It’s important that you look out for these on your survey plan and ensure that they are intact.
Top 3 Best Steps to Register My Land in Anambra State?
There are steps to follow to register your land in Anambra State. It is mostly the same for other states in Nigeria. It is important to know these steps because they are important if you want to authenticate your land survey plan.
The following are the major steps taken to ensure your piece of land is registered correctly and free from any form of encumbrances.
1. Hire a registered surveyor
If you do not know any registered surveyor personally, you can walk into the Ministry of Lands and Survey and ask them to recommend one to you.
The registered/licensed Surveyor is important because he’ll be the one to visit the location of the land. He’ll carry out measurements and field surveys. This is to enable him to collect accurate data and chart it at the Surveyor General’s office to confirm if the piece of land you intend to buy is free from government acquisition and other encumbrances.
2. Proceed With All Forms of Payment
This will include the mandatory deposit that you must make to the government, along with other payments stipulated by your surveyor.
These payments will enable the surveyor to file/register your piece of land with the state government and process your survey plan.
3. Registration Proper
The next step will be for the surveyor to proceed with the registration of your plan. The surveyor proceeds to submit your plan at the Surveyor General’s office for registration. Your surveyor will hand over your documents to you once this steps is complete.
Also Read: Where to Buy Affordable Properties in Anambra State with a Good Appreciation Rate
How Can I Authenticate My Registered Land Survey Plan in Anambra State?
Authenticate your registered land survey plan, it is important you do so. To confirm the authenticity of a registered survey plan, check your survey plan for the following information.
- The full name of the owner of the land surveyed. (this should be your name if the survey plan belongs to you).
- The size of the land surveyed. People usually refer to this as area and present it in square meters.
- The address/description of the land surveyed. This refers to the exact location of the piece of land.
- The beacon numbers.
- A stamp proves that the government has not acquire the land.
- The name of the surveyor who drew the plan.
- The date of the plan’s creation.
- The drawn-out portion of the land survey. Map this out on the survey document.
Walk into the Ministry of Lands and Survey in Anambra State with your document for confirmation.
With the information on your survey plan, the officials of the ministry can check their database and find out if the document in your hands is authentic.
Incidences of land grabbing are on the rise in today’s society, so ensuring that your survey plan is genuine and not fake is very important. Your survey plan serves as legal proof of your property ownership.
Register your survey plan correctly with the appropriate authority to avoid regrets You must authenticate your land survey plan to stall the activities of some unscrupulous surveyors. The steps discussed above if followed diligently will help you ensure that your survey plan is legitimate and not forged.
