CAYMAN ISLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Adam Johnson, Appleby
ing or land. However, planning permission will not be necessary if certain exclusions apply – for example, if the works are carried out for maintenance, improve - ment or other alteration and affect only the interior of the building or do not materially affect the external appearance of the building. A permit is also required under the Building Code Reg - ulations before construction or a change to a building or structure is carried out, or before any work that requires planning permission takes place. All such works must be carried out in the manner authorised by the permit. Where any development of land (including material changes in use) has been carried out without the applicable planning permission or not in compliance with any conditions attached to a grant of planning permission, the Director of Planning may serve an enforcement notice on the owner or occupier of the land within five years of the alleged breach. Non-compliance with an enforcement notice is an offence and attracts a fine. If the steps required to be taken by the enforcement notice are not carried out within the allotted period, the Director of Planning may enter on the land and take those steps, and may recover their costs as a debt from the owner of the land. The Director of Planning may also apply to the Grand Court for an injunction. 4.2 Development Process, Challenges and Enforcement Third parties that own land within a radius of 1,000 feet will receive notice of applications for the approv - al of larger developments (including places of public assembly, gas stations, clubs, restaurants, bars, cine - mas and other similar establishments), and may lodge their objections with the Central Planning Authority (or the Development Control Board for the sister islands). For all other applications for planning permission, only adjacent owners will receive notice of an application and are able to make objections to it.
Those property owners who are entitled to receive notice and who have objected may appeal to a tribu - nal against a decision on the grounds that it is errone - ous in law, unreasonable, contrary to the principles of natural justice, or not in accordance with the Develop - ment Plan. Any person who has applied for planning permission (or who has objected to an application for planning permission) may appeal against that decision to a tri - bunal, within 14 days of notification of the decision. Any person aggrieved by the decision of the tribunal may appeal to the Grand Court. If aggrieved by the decision of the Grand Court, an appeal may be made to the Court of Appeal, whose decision will be final and binding upon the affected parties. Planning permission may be granted subject to such conditions as the relevant authority sees fit. A pru - dent developer would engage with utility suppliers at the outset of a project to incorporate their input into their plans. Planning permission runs with the land, although any agreements will be personal to the par - ties. 5. Investment Vehicles 5.1 Types of Entities Available to Investors to Hold Real Estate Assets The structures most commonly used to acquire real estate are corporate structures, including Cayman Islands companies and foreign companies. Because the Cayman Islands is a non-direct taxation jurisdiction and real estate activities can be achieved through different structures, foreign investors are able to select their investment model based on factors not driven by Cayman regulation (eg, taxation and invest - ment regulation), except where participation may be marketed in the Cayman Islands. The choice of investment vehicle will also often be influenced by whether the investor also intends to carry on business within the Cayman Islands, as there is a local business licensing regime in the jurisdiction.
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