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What the commissioners think of the land mess
AllAfrica.com - Africa
The report of the Presidential Judicial Commission into State Land Allocation in Gaborone makes important observations and recommendations, some of which have far reaching consequences. However, the commissioners have adopted a rather conservative, middle of the road approach, leaving much food for thought to President Festus Mogae himself.
AllAfrica.com

Planning law in Ulster 'a mess', says DUP man
Belfast Telegraph (subscription) - Northern Ireland
Planning regulations in Northern Ireland are a "mess", according to a politician who was a qualified planner before being elected to office.
Belfast Telegraph

Police probe Property Masters
New Vision - Uganda
The scam, she said, involved the selling of land or houses to more than one person, or selling houses that were already under mortgage.
New Vision

Property deals gone sour
Straits Times - Singapore
So you have found your dream home, plonked down some of your hard-earned cash, and can't wait to move in. Then comes the shocker. Your lawyer discovers that the seller is bankrupt. Or the property's land area is smaller than advertised.

Or the seller cannot be contacted when you want to exercise your option to buy - as was the case with reader Katherine Tan, whose recent letter in the Forum page of this newspaper prompted other readers to write in discussing her plight.
Straits Times

2 admit property "flipping"
Cincinnati Enquirer - USA
Two real-estate scam artists pleaded guilty Friday to bank fraud and other federal charges in connection with a buy-low, sell-high mortgage fraud that netted the pair nearly $2 million.

Flipping involves buying a house on the cheap and quickly reselling the property at an inflated price. The deals usually are tainted by some element of fraud such as an inflated property appraisal or false bank statements, pay stubs, W-2 forms or employment verification.
Cincinnati Enquirer

German Govt to Help Finance Land Reform
AllAfrica.com - Africa
Germany has pledged to finance Namibia's land reform process, as its former colony plans to start expropriating land from white farmers to resettle landless
AllAfrica.com

Angola: Parliament to vote on crucial land bill
IrinNews.org - Angola
As the Angolan parliament prepares to vote on a controversial land bill on Tuesday, civil society groups have urged MPs to avoid rushing through a law that could harm the vulnerable communities it should be protecting.

Observers applauded the fact that the National Assembly had last week begun to discuss the issue of land tenure, seen as a top priority in a country where millions of people fled to the major towns during almost 30 years of civil war.
irinnews.org

Warning over Spanish land grab
This is Money - UK
One of the biggest illegal land grabs in Europe since World War II, it arises from the enforcement of a property law passed ten years ago to kick-start a programme of housing for low-paid workers.
This is Money

Court grants Zulu descendants of Scot rights to land
The Herald - South Africa
The heirs of South Africa's most famous Scottish immigrant, John Dunn of Inverness, who fathered more than 117 children by 48 Zulu wives have won a High Court case giving them permanent rights to land granted them by Zulu king Ceteswayo.
The Herald

My property nightmare: caught in a chain
Telegraph.co.uk - UK
"I would advise first-time buyers not to get involved with a property that involves complicated title arrangements, if possible." Some names have been changed.
Telegraph