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Buying property in Zanzibar as a foreigner can feel like navigating a tropical maze of 99-year leases, ZIPA approvals, and coastal-setback rules—but the rewards are undeniable. Imagine securing a sun-splashed villa on Unguja, renting it to digital nomads while you work remotely elsewhere, and even qualifying for Zanzibar’s coveted Golden Visa. Although freehold land is off-limits to non-citizens, the Condominium Act and long-term government leases offer near-freehold security of tenure—up to 99 years, renewable. This evergreen guide distils the essentials: legal structures, step-by-step purchase process, true costs, financing options, and the pitfalls to dodge. Read on to turn your island dream into a fully compliant, income-generating investment that will outlast fleeting market trends.
Yes—but only on leasehold terms. Under Zanzibar’s land regime, all soil is vested in the state, so freehold is off-limits to non-citizens. Instead, anyone buying property in Zanzibar as a foreigner secures a long-term Right-of-Occupancy lease of up to 99 years, usually granted in renewable 33-year blocks and recorded on an individual title deed under the 2010 Condominium Act.
Every foreign purchase must also pass through the Zanzibar Investment Promotion Authority (ZIPA), which issues a no-objection certificate before the Land Commission registers the lease. Once those two boxes are ticked, you enjoy near-freehold rights: you can live in the home, rent it out, resell, or bequeath it—making Zanzibar one of the few Indian-Ocean islands where outsiders can hold property with genuine long-term security.
Foreign ownership in Zanzibar operates under a dual-track system: you either buy a unit in a condominium scheme or you hold the land through a special-purpose company that signs a government lease. Both routes hinge on the same legal pillars—the Land Tenure Act (1992), the Condominium Act (No. 10 of 2010) and ZIPA’s investment rules—so let’s unpack each in plain English.
Buying a villa or apartment inside an approved condominium is the simplest path for individual buyers. The 2010 Act lets locals and foreigners acquire an individual unit title backed by a 99-year lease, issued in renewable 33-year blocks. Once registered, your title deed gives you near-freehold powers: you can live in the property, let it on Airbnb, sell it, or leave it to heirs—just like any Tanzanian owner.
Crucially, the lease is recorded in your own name at the Land Registry, so you don’t share ownership with the developer. Resale is also straightforward: a new buyer simply takes over the remaining lease term, subject to ZIPA sign-off and payment of transfer taxes.
If you want a stand-alone home or a larger plot, you’ll form—or buy into—a Zanzibar-registered company to hold the lease. ZIPA treats the company as the investor, so it must meet minimum capital thresholds (US $300 k for ordinary projects; US $2.5 m if 100 % foreign-owned in hotels/real estate).
Once ZIPA approves the business plan, the company receives a Right-of-Occupancy lease for up to 99 years. You, the foreign buyer, simply hold shares in that local entity. This structure:
All land in Zanzibar is state-owned and falls into one of two headline rights:
Within those rights sit planning categories—urban miji plots, agricultural land, reserved forest, tourism zones, and special development areas administered by ZIPA. Always confirm that the plot’s land-use class matches your intended use (residential, rental, etc.). Building a rental villa on land zoned “agriculture” can trigger a stop-work order.
Because Zanzibar is a coral-ringed archipelago, there’s also a statutory Coastal Setback Buffer Zone—between 30 m and 100 m inland from the high-tide mark, depending on shoreline type. No permanent structures can be erected inside that buffer without special environmental clearance from ZEMA (the island’s environmental authority).
Key takeaway: whether you buy a turnkey condo or create a share-company to lease your own slice of beach, every foreign purchase boils down to a long lease plus ZIPA approval. Understanding these ground rules up-front will save you time, legal fees, and heartache later on.
Average timeline: Schedule ≈ 3 months from accepted offer to a fully registered 99-year lease; uncomplicated condo resales sometimes close in 60–90 days.
Below is the practical eight-step roadmap most lawyers follow when buying property in Zanzibar as a foreigner.
Once you agree a price, the agent or developer issues an Offer to Purchase or reservation contract. To show commitment you wire a 10 % good-faith deposit—industry-standard across Zanzibar agencies. The money usually sits in the lawyer’s client account (or escrow) until due-diligence is done.
Tanzanian conveyancing law requires that land instruments be drafted by an advocate and attested before a public notary. Choose a Zanzibar-based lawyer who will shepherd every filing and keep records in both English and Swahili.
Your lawyer conducts official searches at the Land Registry and Commission for Lands to verify:
Skipping this uhakikisha step is the fastest route to later disputes.
After clean searches, the advocate drafts a bilingual Sale & Purchase Agreement that locks in price, completion date, and a list of documents the seller must supply. Both parties sign before the notary; the 10 % deposit becomes non-refundable except for proven title defects.
Every foreign land transaction—condo or standalone—must obtain a no-objection certificate from the Zanzibar Investment Promotion Authority (ZIPA). Submit the signed sale agreement, proof of funds, and (if buying through a company) your investment business plan. ZIPA vetting is normally completed within a few weeks when documents are in order.
Pay Stamp Duty & Government Fees
Your advocate obtains “control numbers,” pays each fee at the Zanzibar Revenue Board, and attaches official receipts to the transfer file.
With ZIPA’s letter and tax receipts in hand, the file moves to the Land Commission and Business & Property Registration Agency (BPRA).
You receive an embossed title deed—keep the original safe; banks will insist on it for any future mortgage.
Optional: Apply for the Zanzibar Golden Visa
If your purchase price is ≥ US $100,000 in a ZIPA-approved project, you (plus spouse and up to four children) can request a Class C residence permit—popularly called the Golden Visa. The permit is issued for two years and renewable as long as you hold the property, with application fees of about US $500.
Pro-tip: Keep digital scans of every stamped document—ZIPA, BPRA and the bank often ask for duplicates long after completion.
With these eight steps, solid legal advice and a clear fee budget, foreign ownership Zanzibar becomes a structured, repeatable process rather than an island guessing game.
Below are the headline costs every non-resident buyer faces on top of the agreed price. Where statutes fix a percentage we quote it as-is; where the law sets a band, we show a mid-range example and flag the range in brackets.
Annual ground-rent is not included because it depends on plot size—see below.
Stamp duty – 1 % of declared price Fixed by the Zanzibar Stamp Duty Act; applies to every conveyance or long-term lease.
Transfer (or registration) tax – 1 % – 5 % District bylaws impose an ad-valorem levy before the Land Commission will register the title; most residential deals fall in the 2 %–3 % bracket—our table uses 2 %.
Registration fee – ≈ 0.25 % The Business & Property Registration Agency (BPRA) charges roughly a quarter of one per-cent to enter the new lease or unit title in the registry.
Legal & notary fees – 1 % – 2 % Advocates quote on a sliding scale (simple condo resales sit near 1 %, complex land transfers nearer 2 %). Zanzipalms’ practitioner guide pegs the band at 1 – 2 %.
Real-estate agent commission – 5 % (typical) Most Zanzibar brokers follow the national norm of 5 % of the price, split between listing and buyer agents.
Annual ground-rent – USD 0.35 / m² All foreign leaseholds pay an annual rent to government—currently US $0.35 per square metre in urban areas. A 400 m² villa plot therefore costs about US $140 per year.
Annual property tax – flat US $22 per dwelling Introduced island-wide and collected with the ground rent.
Rule of thumb: closing costs (excluding agency fee) come to ≈ 4 – 7 % of the purchase price. Budget on the high side if your district applies the upper end of the transfer-tax range or if your lawyer’s scope is extensive.
With these figures in mind—and the earlier step-by-step timeline—you can forecast cash requirements accurately and avoid last-minute surprises at the Land Commission cashier’s window.
Local banks—CRDB, NMB, KCB, Stanbic—all lend on Zanzibar property, but almost every mortgage is booked in Tanzanian shillings (TSh). Shilling loans shield the lender from currency mismatch and currently price from 14 % at CRDB for its Jijenge Mortgage (up to 20-year tenor) to 17 % at NMB (15-year tenor). The Bank of Tanzania’s October 2024 bulletin shows overall lending rates hovering around 15.5 % (BOT), and the April 2025 monetary-policy report puts them “around 16 %”—so budget mid-teens for shilling debt.
Several lenders will quote a USD mortgage on request (CRDB’s Diaspora Jijenge caps at USD 300 k). Dollar rates run a couple of points lower than shilling loans but shift your risk to the TSh/USD exchange. Many foreign buyers simply hedge by keeping rental income in dollars and remitting shillings only for monthly instalments.
Both CRDB and NMB advertise finance of “up to 90 % of the property value” on purchase loans. In practice, resident Tanzanians can indeed borrow at that ceiling, but non-resident buyers report banks trimming the LTV to 60–70 % unless you:
Expect the bank to insist on: ZIPA’s no-objection letter, a registered 99-year lease already in your name (or simultaneous with loan draw-down), and assignment of the fire-insurance policy. Underwriters cap debt-service at roughly 50 % of proven net income (NMB’s stated rule).
Tanzania lacks a statutory escrow regime. Commercial banks rarely open escrow accounts for non-residents, and Clyde & Co notes it is “unlikely” unless the buyer already holds residency or a local entity. Standard practice is for the buyer’s advocate to hold the 10 % deposit in a client trust account until completion; the balance is transferred directly to the seller (or the developer’s designated account) on the day the lease and mortgage are registered. Make sure your sale agreement spells out who holds funds, release conditions, and dispute resolution to avoid stalemates.
Take-away: If you can document income, budget a 30–40 % down-payment, and are comfortable with mid-teen interest rates, local bank finance is achievable. Otherwise, many condo developers now offer vendor financing—typically 40 % down and the rest over 12–18 months at 0 %—as a bridge until you can refinance with a bank.
Zanzibar’s so-called “Golden Visa” (technically Residence Permit Class C-11) turns a qualifying property purchase into a renewable two-year residency card.
Note: The Class C-11 card is a stay permit, not a work permit. You may open a local bank account and move freely in/out of Tanzania, but you still need a separate work visa to take up salaried employment.
Property-linked residents enjoy a bundle of incentives adopted in 2021:
Once your 99-year lease or unit title is registered:
If your goal is a hassle-free base in the Indian Ocean (and a gentle tax regime), the Golden Visa is the lowest-bar route: buy one ZIPA-approved home for at least US $100 k, budget ~US $550 in fees, and you, your spouse, and the kids can reside—renewably—in Zanzibar. Keep the property, keep the visa.
Below are the six slip-ups that trip up many newcomers, followed by quick fixes you can apply immediately. (The wording stays exactly the same—only the layout changes for easier reading on small screens.)
Why it hurts you: A 2020 Doing Business note flagged under-declaration as a systemic problem; the government can void a transfer, levy penalties, or refuse registration.
Pro tip: Declare the true price and keep the official valuation slip from the Land Commission with your file.
Why it hurts you: Without ZIPA’s “no-objection” letter, BPRA will not register your 99-year lease—leaving you with no enforceable title.
Pro tip: File the ZIPA pack the same day you sign the Sale Agreement; most lawyers submit online and get approval in 2–3 weeks.
Why it hurts you: The lease cannot be registered while arrears exist, and the debt attaches to the land, not the seller.
Pro tip: Ask your lawyer for a stamped Land-Rent Clearance Certificate before you release the balance payment.
Why it hurts you: A 2024 World Bank mission found 51 of 120 sites (≈ 42 %) suffered “land-related issues, including missing title deeds.”
Pro tip: Order a full registry search (uhakikisha) and insist the seller cures any defects—often just a missing survey plan—before completion.
Why it hurts you: Zanzibar’s 2015 Environmental Act makes the buffer a protected zone; construction without an EIA can be halted or torn down.
Pro tip: If your plot borders the sea, get ZEMA’s written setback clearance before you break ground.
Why it hurts you: Off-plan projects must register their master lease and environmental approvals first; otherwise you risk delays or a revoked project licence.
Pro tip: Verify the developer’s ZIPA investment certificate and environmental-permit numbers against public registers.
Buying property in Zanzibar as a foreigner is perfectly doable once you understand the twin cornerstones of the system—99-year leases and ZIPA approval. With a solid advocate, a realistic closing-cost budget, and clear awareness of zoning and coastal-setback rules, you can secure an island home that doubles as a high-yield rental (and even unlocks Zanzibar’s Golden Visa). Ready to move forward? Contact us today and turn island dreaming into compliant ownership—minus the headaches.
This article is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
No. All land remains state-owned. Foreign (and most local) buyers receive a renewable leasehold of up to 99 years, typically issued in 33-year blocks under the Condominium Act No. 10 of 2010.Real Estate Zanzibar
Not necessarily. You can grant your Zanzibar-based lawyer a power of attorney to sign the Sale Agreement and lodge documents with ZIPA and the Land Commission. You will, however, need to provide original notarised passport copies and (in most cases) appear before a notary—either locally or at a Tanzanian consulate—before the deed is registered. Many buyers visit once for closing, then finish the Golden-Visa formalities remotely via courier.
No. Even though most condo projects are pre-approved by ZIPA, each individual foreign buyer must still be recorded. Your advocate simply files a shorter “no-objection” request, and approval normally comes within a few weeks.Sandbank Villas
For a clear-title resale in an existing condo, budget 60–90 days from signed offer to issued unit-title. Stand-alone land or off-plan villas can take closer to three to four months, mainly because ZIPA and the Land Commission review the file sequentially.
Zanzibar leases are expressly renewable on the same terms. Current practice is to renew in 33-year increments upon payment of a modest administrative fee and any outstanding ground rent. You apply to the Land Commission well before expiry—much like extending a passport.
