BAHAMAS Law and Practice Contributed by: Alistair Chisnall and Erica Paine, Graham Thompson
land to a third-party purchaser, or whether such liability would simply be inherited by a successor in title or the current owner of the damaged or polluted land. 2.8 Permitted Uses of Real Estate Under Zoning or Planning Law There are a number of Bahamian statutes that include provisions relating to the development and use of land but, generally speaking, devel - opment, planning, zoning and land-use regula - tions are set out in the Planning and Subdivi - sion Act, 2010 (P&S Act) and related subsidiary legislation. The P&S Act contemplates that “Land Use Plan” shall be adopted for each island in the Common - wealth of The Bahamas; but, for various reasons, work on developing and finalising such plans has not yet been completed. With this issue in mind, it is standard practice for a buyer who wishes to ascertain the permitted uses of a parcel of real estate under applicable zoning or planning law to contact the Town Planning Committee in the Department of Physical Planning for confirma - tion of the permitted or zoned use of that prop - erty under historic zoning orders or the current non-statutory land-use plans. Approvals in Principle Where a purchaser has development plans in mind for a parcel of land, the securing of req - uisite approvals (or, more often, “approvals in principle” ) from the Town Planning Committee to facilitate the development, operation and management of the desired activity on that land would be a condition for closing the purchase transaction. The issuance of further project- specific final approvals from the Town Planning Committee would often be undertaken following completion of the purchase.
Such approval in principle is often sought from the highest levels of government in the pur - chase and development approval process and covered in a buyer’s or developer’s application to the National Economic Council and Bahamas Investment Authority (see 2.11 Legal Restric- tions on Foreign Investors ). In the case of major development projects, the buyer/developer and The Bahamas government will often enter into written and signed “Heads of Agreement” con - firming approved uses, permitted development plans and related matters. 2.9 Condemnation, Expropriation or Compulsory Purchase The Bahamian constitution protects private property rights. The Bahamian government’s powers or rights of condemnation, expropriation or compulsory purchase (referred to as “com - pulsory acquisition” in The Bahamas) are limited and can only be exercised strictly in accordance with relevant statute law, as follows: • under the Acquisition of Land Act, 1913, land may be compulsorily acquired for public purposes and subject to the process set forth in the Act; • under the Proceeds of Crime Act, 2018, con - fiscation orders may be issued where proper - ty was acquired or gifted with proceeds from illegal activities; • under the Environmental Planning and Pro - tection Act, 2019, administrative orders may be issued to halt or prevent environmental damage; • under the Real Property Tax Act, the public treasurer has the power to sell certain land where annual property taxes are in arrears; and • under the Building Regulations Act, 1971, the minister responsible for building regulations
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