Property
French Civil Code ownership with land registration and sanction for non-citizen purchases
Property law rests on the Civil Code of Seychelles, derived from the Code Napoléon, with ownership and the hypothèque following French concepts. Registration is under the Land Registration Act. Non-citizens require government sanction to acquire immovable property, and an immovable property tax applies to non-citizen owners.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — The Land Registrar registers; the Supreme Court hears property disputes.
- Deadline — Non-citizen acquisition: sanction obtained before transfer
- Deadline — Immovable property tax: annual, payable by non-citizen owners
Governing law
- Civil Code of Seychelles Act 2020 — ownership; hypothèque
- Land Registration ActCap 107
- Immovable Property (Transfer Restriction) Act (Cap 95) — sanction for non-citizens
- Immovable Property Tax Act 2019
In practice
The Civil Code of Seychelles Act 2020 was a significant modernisation, replacing the 1976 code and restating French-derived private law in English in a single contemporary statute — a rare instance of a mixed jurisdiction deliberately re-codifying its civil-law half.