Changing agricultural land category

In briefThe real estate register records the property's kind, class and type. A change of kind, when buildings are erected that alter the use, is recorded on the owner's application after a proper inspection, under articles 279 and 280 of Real Estate Registration Law No. 43 of 1971. Partition into residential plots within municipal limits is based on a plan certified by Amanat Baghdad or the municipality. Correction of the class of amiri land is a separate path.

The office of lawyer Ali Barakat in Baghdad sets out how a change in the kind or class of land is recorded in the real estate register, when a move is sought from agricultural use to residential or commercial use. The framework is Real Estate Registration Law No. 43 of 1971, published in the Iraqi Official Gazette, issue 1995, of 10/5/1971, in particular articles 72, 75, 88 and 276 to 284.

What the register records as to kind and class

The first sheet of the real estate register is used to record the permanent description of the property, including the governorate, district, sub-district and quarter or tract, the boundaries and area, together with the kind, class, type, appurtenances and easements, under article 72, second. Changes affecting the class, type, kind or appurtenances are entered on the first sheet, with a brief reference to the registration or amendment document, under article 75, second. Until that sheet is amended, the description of the property remains as it stands in the register, even if the use has changed in fact.

The property is inspected when factual dispositions that by their nature require inspection are recorded, such as partition, amalgamation and correction of kind, under article 88. The filing is made at the Real Estate Registration Department in whose area of work the property lies. How that department is identified in Baghdad is explained on the page Baghdad land registry directorates between Karkh and Rusafa.

Correction of kind when the use has actually changed

The kind of the property is corrected when physical changes are made to it by erecting buildings or installations or by planting, by adding new works or plantations, or by any change to existing works or plantations that alters the kind of the property as to its exploitation or use, or when those works or plantations disappear, unless a legal text provides otherwise, under article 279. Correction of kind is therefore tied to a physical change in the property that alters the manner of exploitation or use. It is not accomplished by a written wish alone to move the description from agricultural to residential or commercial.

Registration is made on the owner's application, based on a proper inspection confirming that the actual changes have occurred so that the property is fit for use or exploitation in its new state according to local custom, under article 280, first. If a compulsory disposition, such as a sale by auction or an expropriation, is carried out on a property whose kind has in fact changed from what appears in the register, correction of kind is recorded together with the legal disposition in a single registration, without an application from the holder of the real rights, under paragraph 3.

Correction of kind requires unity of ownership of the land and of the buildings or plantations standing on it, except for a musataha right or what the law provides. If there are works or plantations belonging to persons other than the owners of the land, or to some of them only, under a lawful claim, the kind of the property is not corrected and they are merely noted in the register, under article 281. Consensual dispositions and rights of inheritance and transmission over a property whose kind has in fact changed are registered together with the correction of kind, under article 282.

A building permit from Amanat Baghdad or from the municipal directorate, where one is required, is a prior or accompanying step to the physical change. It is the subject of the page A building permit from Amanat Baghdad or the municipality. The permit alone does not take the place of recording a correction of kind in the register.

Partition into residential plots, and correction of the class of amiri land

Registration of the partition of a property lying within municipal limits is based on a plan drawn up in accordance with the law and certified by the municipality, under article 284, first. In Baghdad the certification is by Amanat Baghdad. In another city it is by the municipality within whose limits the property lies. Registration of the partition of properties lying outside municipal limits into residential plots is subject to the approval of the administrative unit by a reasoned decision, under paragraph 2. Partition outside municipal limits into agricultural plots is based on a plan confirmed by the Real Estate Registration Department, provided the partitioned part is fit for agricultural exploitation, under paragraph 3. Partition of orchards, inside or outside municipal limits, is subject to the limits imposed by the agrarian reform legislation, under paragraph 4.

Correction of the class of amiri land granted by tapu, or granted by lazma, or made the subject of an imperfect waqf, is registered in accordance with the decision issued by the authority legally empowered to do so, without any admission by the holder of the right of disposal, whether the correction is made for a cash payment or in kind, under article 276. If the correction is made for a cash payment, the land is registered as mulk in the name of the holder of the right of disposal. If it is made in kind, the correction plan is relied on, and the share of the official body and of the holder of the right of disposal is each registered as mulk in that person's name. That is a path for the class of amiri land. It is not the same as correction of kind when buildings are erected that change the use of land whose register description appears as agricultural. Appropriation Law No. 12 of 1981, in article 2, second, refers to Law No. 53 of 1976 unifying the classes of State lands, in connection with rights of disposal over land owned by the State.

If the properties being amalgamated differ in kind, the amalgamation is carried out under the prevailing description of the property at the time of amalgamation, under article 299, second. What concerns an investment housing project on land whose use is to be changed is also read on the page Buying a residential unit off-plan in investment complexes.

Legal basis and sources

Frequently asked questions

Is an agreement to treat the land as residential or commercial enough to change its description in the real estate register?

No. Kind and class are recorded on the first sheet of the register, under article 72, and changes to them are entered on the basis of the registration or amendment document, under article 75. Correction of kind is made on the owner's application after an inspection confirming the physical change and the property's fitness for its new use according to local custom, under articles 279 and 280.

On what is the partition of land within the limits of Amanat Baghdad into residential plots based?

Registration is based on a plan drawn up in accordance with the law and certified by Amanat Baghdad, under article 284, first, of the Real Estate Registration Law. Partition into residential plots outside municipal limits is subject to the approval of the administrative unit by a reasoned decision.

Is correction of the class of amiri land the same as correction of kind when buildings are erected?

No. Correction of the class of amiri land granted by tapu or by lazma is registered pursuant to a decision of the authority legally empowered to do so, under article 276. Correction of kind is tied to a physical change in the property that alters the manner of exploitation or use, under article 279.

Always check the text in force and its amendments in the official source.

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Changing the land category from agricultural to residential or commercial