construction timelines increased over the last year. Allowing four to six months for your architect to design and obtain planning approvals and prices, building can now take upwards of 10 months. See the Building a Home chapter for more information.
Know Your Client/Customer Keep in mind that the sale or purchase of real estate in the Cayman Islands constitutes as Relevant Financial Business for the purposes of Cayman’s anti-money laundering measures. As part of the Know Your Client/Customer (KYC) requirement, your real estate agent or any professional acting in relation to a real estate transaction is required by the Cayman Islands Government to collect your identification details such as passport or driver’s licence
numbers and source of funds (by way of a bank statement), as well as other relevant information to finalise the transaction. If you need further information about this requirement, please contact a legal conveyancing professional. Stamp Duty Exempts on Furnishings Stamp duty is not charged on the furnishings or chattels of a house. If you are not entirely sure how to calculate the value, then call the Lands and Survey Department on (345) 244 3420 and they will be happy to discuss your situation. Check out their website at www.caymanlandinfo.ky for more information. Legal Conveyancing Conveyancing is the technical word that is used to describe the way that a property is legally transferred from one person to another. Technically, you can do the conveyancing yourself, but if the property is being bought with a mortgage, your lender will insist that you use a lawyer to
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FINDING A HOME
Stamp Duty & Other Charges Stamp duty, which is payable on all real estate transfers and purchases (other than those between close family, aka ‘by love and affection’), is 7.5%. However, a first time Caymanian buyer will pay no stamp duty if the property is below CI$300,000 (2% if it is over CI$300k but does not exceed CI$400k) and is going to be owner occupied. Stamp duty on bare land purchases by first time Caymanian buyers (with some zoning exceptions) are set at 2% for land that is valued above CI$100k but does not exceed CI$150,000. In 2021, the government changed the approach to assessing Stamp Duty on pre-construction properties. Up to last year, that duty was calculated on the published developer’s price at completion. Note the law has not changed, just its interpretation. Stamp duty has always been charged on the purchase price or on the market value, whichever is higher, as assessed by the Lands and Survey Department. As real estate prices have gone up, is it very likely that a pre-construction property with a purchase agreement signed one or more years prior to completion, will be assessed by officials to be worth more than the agreed purchase price. An alternative to the unknown appreciation costs is to pre-pay the 7.5% Stamp Duty, but in that case, purchasers run the risk of the development not going ahead, and stamp duty fees are not refundable! The Duty must be paid within 45 days of a contract being signed or at completion/ possession (when the Certificate of Occupancy is issued). > 1% charged on mortgages of less than CI$300,000 and 1.5% on mortgages of CI$300,000 or higher. You should budget
up to 1% for legal and registration fees. > When you build a house, there are building permit fees which are charged according to the square footage of the property being built. > When purchasing with bank financing, the bank will require a report on the ‘Market Value’ of the property. Each lender has its own rules but the report will usually need to be prepared by an approved firm of professional valuation surveyors. Aim to pay in the region of CI$400 for this report.
