Vanuatu Review of National Land Legislation, Policy and ... - AusAID

While it would seem clear enough that the land in question must include “the wholeor a part of a building”, apparently this wording has been taken in Vanuatu toauthorise the approval of strata title developments over bare land. This is using thestrata title arrangements as a substitute for land subdivision, for which provisionalready exists in the Land Leases Act, Sec. 12(2).Other provisions of the Strata Titles Act make it clear that the normal requirementsfor subdivision do not apply to strata titles (Sec. 3(1)), and that, upon registration ofa strata plan, separate certificates of title must be issued for each lot in the plan(Sec. 2(2)). Notably, there is no requirement to seek the approval of the customowners of the land in question to the strata title development. One major restriction,however, is that the strata plan must be approved by a “consent authority” under theAct (Sec. 4(3)), which means the relevant municipal council or ProvincialGovernment (Sec. 1). And the only person who can apply for that consent is alessee under an “approved lease” (Sec. 3(2)). An “approved lease” is defined tomean –“a lease registered or capable of registration in the Land Leases Registerfor a term which, or which together with any option to extend the termexercisable by either the lessor or the lessee, has an unexpired period ofat least 75 years [emphasis added] at the date the strata plan is to beregistered over the land the subject of that lease.” (Sec 1)The overall effect of these provisions seems to be that the only persons who arecapable of applying for a strata title development are those who have convertedtheir lease terms to renewable 75-year terms, under the Land Leases (Amendment)Act 2003 (see above). Those long-term leases are only possible over public land –ie, generally, land in urban areas. By Sec. 32 of the Land Leases Act, lease termsover any other land cannot exceed 75 years, and if granted or extended for anylonger period shall be deemed to be for 75 years 18 .In 2003, the Strata Titles (Amendment) Act was passed, making many technicalamendments to the Act. Its main purpose seems to have been to overcome anydoubts that strata titling could be applied to undeveloped land.That completes this account of the specific land policies and legislation introducedat independence, and in the 27 years since. Many other laws have an effect on landtenure and land use, and the main ones will be considered below. They relate tosurveys and valuation, land dispute settlement, physical planning and foreshoredevelopment, and environment protection. Before considering them, the specificland policies and legislation will now be reviewed.18 It is also possible that lessees are executing a new 75-year lease at the time of registration of thestrata plan, but this would clearly violate the spirit of Sec. 32 of the Land Leases Act, if not the letterof the law.17