Property
Constitutional ban on foreign freehold, with a narrow reclaimed-land exception
Foreign ownership of land is constitutionally prohibited. A 2015 amendment permitted freehold for very large investments involving substantial land reclamation, but the ordinary route remains long leasehold.
Governing law
- Constitution art. 251as amended 2015
- Land ActLaw 1/2002
- Maldives Tourism ActLaw 2/99
In practice
The 2015 amendment allows freehold where an investment exceeds one billion US dollars and at least seventy percent of the relevant area is reclaimed from the sea — a threshold so high that it has not reshaped ordinary practice. Maldivians hold land under state grants recorded by the relevant council. For commercial purposes, what is traded is a leasehold interest plus the right to operate, and lenders take security over the lease and revenues.