Property
Almost all land is customary kaitasi land, held by extended family
Land is overwhelmingly customary, held by the kaitasi — the extended family group — under the Native Lands Act, and cannot be sold to non-Tuvaluans. Leases are the only route for outsiders.
Key rules
- Deadline — Customary land disputes go to the Lands Court with appeal to the Lands Appeal Panel
- Deadline — Government leases of customary land are registered with the Lands Department
Governing law
- Native Lands Act (Cap. 46) (s. 4)
- Land Acquisition ActCap. 45
- Tuvalu Lands Code
- Neglected Lands ActCap. 47
In practice
Land is held by the kaitasi, an extended family landholding group, with the head of the family administering it on behalf of members — so an individual rarely holds land alone and cannot deal with it alone. The Lands Code and Native Lands Act govern entitlement, and disputes are heard by the Lands Court and Lands Appeal Panel rather than the ordinary courts. Non-Tuvaluans cannot acquire customary land; the government leases land for public purposes and sublets. Scarcity is acute: the total land area is about 26 square kilometres, and sea-level rise and coastal erosion are physically reducing it, which gives Tuvaluan land law an existential dimension no other jurisdiction in the atlas shares.