Customary land versus leasehold

The single most important question about any Malawian plot, and the one most often answered with a shrug.

Customary land

Customary land is held under customary law and administered through traditional authorities and the district. Most land in Malawi is customary. Rights in it are real and long-standing — families have farmed the same ground for generations — but they are recorded socially and administratively rather than in a national register of individual titles.

What that means practically: there is no deed of the kind a lawyer or a bank recognises, transfers happen with the involvement of the traditional authority and the district, and you are relying on the community's recognition of the boundary and of who holds it. It is not worthless and it is not fake. It is a different thing from a registered title, and it should be priced and verified as a different thing.

Malawi's land reforms provide a route to register customary estates, which changes this picture where it has been done. Ask specifically whether the land has been registered as a customary estate and ask to see the paperwork.

Leasehold

Leasehold is the normal form for a plot in a town — a lease from the government for a fixed term, commonly long, with a ground rent and conditions attached, registered against a plot number. This is what people mean when they say a plot 'has a title deed'.

A lease can be searched at the lands office, mortgaged, and transferred through a registered process. If you intend to borrow against the property, build anything substantial, or sell it on to a buyer who will themselves need a loan, this is the tenure you want.

Choosing between them

If the plot is in a city and you plan to build a house you will one day sell, buy leasehold, and accept that you will pay more for it. If you are buying farmland in a rural district from a family who have held it for decades, customary is what exists and the verification work moves from the registry to the traditional authority, the district office and the neighbours.

What you must not do is pay a leasehold price for customary land because the seller used the phrase 'title deed' and nobody checked.

Common questions

Can customary land be converted to leasehold?

There is a process for it, involving the traditional authority and the district and Ministry of Lands, but it is slow and not guaranteed. Never buy on the assumption that conversion will happen — buy on the basis of what the land is today.

Will a bank lend against customary land?

Generally no. Banks lend against registered leasehold or freehold title they can take security over. This is one of the most practical differences between the two.

Is customary land safe to buy?

It can be, and millions of Malawians hold land this way. But the verification is different: you are confirming with the traditional authority, the district, and the adjoining families rather than with a registry, and you should expect to spend time on the ground doing it.