Buying land in Dakar, Senegal: title deeds, checks and costs

In Senegal, the safe way to buy land in Dakar is to buy a plot with a titre foncier (registered land title). Before you pay, have the land registry (Conservation foncière) confirm that the seller owns the plot and that nothing is registered against it. Then sign before a notary and have the transfer (mutation) recorded in your name. Until that record is made, the land register does not recognise you as the owner. Plots held under a council allocation (délibération) or a lease give the buyer less protection. Several subdivisions in the Dakar region have also been frozen since 2024 while land audits run, so check the zone before sending any money.

What Senegalese law says: no ownership without registration

In Senegal, land registration and the titre foncier are governed by Law No. 2011-07 of 30 March 2011 on the land ownership regime, published in the Official Journal No. 6607 of 13 August 2011. According to the summary of the law published on vie-publique.sn:

• only the State may request the registration of property in the land books (Article 4);
• registration is optional, but it is mandatory for agreements that create or transfer real rights to be valid (Article 5; in French: « facultative, mais obligatoire pour la validité des conventions constitutives ou translatives de droits réels »);
• the law keeps two principles: a land title cannot be challenged, and a real right does not exist without registration (Articles 6 and 20).

In practice, under Senegalese law, buying a registered plot only protects you once the sale is entered in the land register. A receipt, a promise or a signed deed is not enough. A guide published on Seneweb on 8 May 2026 puts it plainly: signing a sale deed does not make you the legal owner.

Titre foncier, lease, délibération: know what you are buying

A seller in Dakar may show you several kinds of documents. They do not carry the same weight.

Document	What to know
Titre foncier	Property registered in the land book. The Seneweb guide of 8 May 2026 calls it the only guarantee of full security.
Lease, lease notification, administrative deed	According to the same guide, these offer weaker protection and can be revoked or challenged under certain conditions.
Délibération	Allocation of national-domain land by the municipal council. Article 81 of Senegal's Local Authorities Code, cited by the Supreme Court (ruling No. 13 of 14 May 2020), gives the municipal council power over allocating and withdrawing national-domain land.
"Certificate of ownership" signed by the mayor	In ruling No. 13 of 14 May 2020, the Supreme Court of Senegal cancelled such a certificate, issued by a mayor on national-domain land without a council decision.

If the plot has no titre foncier, ask the notary what the seller can actually transfer to you and what steps remain. Do not pay until you have the notary's answer in writing.

Checks to make before paying

1. The title number. Ask for the titre foncier number at the first visit. Without it, nothing can be checked.
2. A registry search. The Seneweb guide describes the Conservation foncière, which reports to the Direction des Domaines, as the place to find out whether the property is mortgaged, under dispute or already transferred. Go through your notary.
3. The seller's identity. The name in the land book must match the person signing. Be wary of sales under power of attorney: the same guide warns that a power of attorney can be forged and that a plot can be sold more than once.
4. The status of the zone. Make sure the subdivision is not on the list of suspended sites or cancelled plans (see the next section).
5. The boundaries. Have a surveyor (géomètre) confirm that the plot you visited is the one on the title and that the boundary markers are in place.
6. No rush. A seller who pushes you or mentions other buyers is a reason to slow down. The guide's author calls urgency the swindler's ally.

Buying from abroad adds risk. Our article on avoiding property scams in West Africa (in French) covers the common schemes.

Subdivisions frozen since 2024 in the Dakar region

Land procedures have been suspended on several sites in the Dakar region since 2024. According to Le Soleil, 7 July 2026, government statements of 31 July and 7 November 2024 suspended work on subdivisions, detailed urban plans (PUD) and urban hubs pending audits. For Dakar, the article names the BOA, Hangar des Pèlerins, Recasement 2, EGBOS, EOGEN and EOGEN-extension subdivisions, and the Déni Biram Ndao-Diaksao-Bambilor and Daga Kholpa-Yenne urban hubs. It states, however, that the Guédiawaye and Yeumbeul-Malika-Tivaouane Peulh PUDs have been cancelled, so they are not awaiting the lifting of a suspension.

In January 2025, a tax and lands directorate (DGID) note partly lifted the freeze for rights holders with a release certificate (quitus de mainlevée). It kept EOGEN 1 and 2, Cité Batterie, and the ASECNA and ANACIM areas of the Hangars des Pèlerins subdivision frozen (Le Soleil, 29 January 2025). In July 2026, the Prime Minister asked the monitoring committee to complete the lifting of the suspensions during the second half of 2026. The process applies only to titles with no formal or substantive defect. The government has also asked people not to restart any building work without prior authorisation.

No public list we consulted gives the current status of each site. Before buying in any of these zones, get written confirmation from the notary that the procedure is no longer suspended.

Signing, costs and the transfer

Sign the sale deed before a notary. The Seneweb guide recommends a notary registered with the Chambre des notaires du Sénégal. It also notes that a bailiff (huissier) can record facts but has no power to transfer ownership.

Transfer duty. When parliament voted the 2015 reform of Senegal's General Tax Code, the finance minister announced that the transfer duty on buildings and real property rights would fall from 10% to 5% (Seneweb, 13 March 2015). The other costs (stamp duties, registry fees, notary fees) are not published in the sources we consulted. Ask the notary for a written breakdown that confirms the current rate.

Recording the transfer. According to a procedure sheet taken from senegalservices.sn, in Senegal the transfer is requested from the land registrar (conservateur de la propriété et des droits fonciers): any individual or company can start the process, through a notary. You need a certified copy of the sale deed, an extract of the site plan and a certified copy of your ID (or articles of association and NINEA tax number for a company). The stated time is one to six months depending on the case, and the fees vary (au-senegal.com). Keep the copy of the titre foncier in your name: it proves your ownership.

If you are buying a house rather than bare land, read our guide on how to buy a house in Dakar.

On Imonga

Listings in Senegal are grouped on the Dakar property page, and for the new city on the Diamniadio property page. A listing is never a substitute for a registry search: ask the advertiser for the titre foncier number before you visit.

Frequently asked questions

Can a foreigner buy land in Dakar?

None of the official Senegalese sources we consulted for this article sets a rule specific to foreign buyers, so we can neither confirm nor rule out extra requirements. The checks are the same for everyone: titre foncier, registry search, notarised deed and recorded transfer. Before signing, ask the notary in writing whether your nationality or residence status adds any formality.

How long does the transfer into my name take?

The procedure sheet taken from senegalservices.sn gives one to six months depending on the case, once the notary has lodged the file with the land registrar. The clock starts after the notarial signing and payment of duties. Until the transfer is recorded, you are not the owner in the land register. Ask your notary for written updates on the file.

Is a bailiff's report or a private agreement enough?

No. Under Senegalese Law No. 2011-07, as summarised by vie-publique.sn, registration is required for agreements transferring real rights to be valid. The May 2026 Seneweb guide adds that a bailiff can record facts but cannot transfer ownership. Only the transfer recorded in the land register makes you the owner. For your specific case, have this confirmed by a notary or a lawyer practising in Senegal.

How do I know if the land is mortgaged or already sold?

With the titre foncier number, your notary checks with the Conservation foncière, which reports to the Direction des Domaines. That is where mortgages, registered disputes and earlier transfers appear. Do not rely on a photocopy from the seller. Have the search done just before signing, not weeks before.

My plot is in a frozen subdivision: what now?

According to the government statement reported by Le Soleil in July 2026, the people concerned will be notified and must file their release or regularisation requests within the deadlines set. Only titles with no formal or substantive defect qualify. Do not build without authorisation: the government says it will act against any work restarted without permission.

Land rules differ in other West African countries. For Togo, see our guide to land status in Togo (in French).

Sources

• vie-publique.sn, Law No. 2011-07 of 30 March 2011: Articles 4, 5, 6 and 20 (registration, land title, real rights). Accessed 22 October 2026.
• vie-publique.sn, Official Journal No. 6607 of 13 August 2011: publication of Law No. 2011-07. Accessed 22 October 2026.
• Supreme Court of Senegal, ruling No. 13 of 14 May 2020: municipal council's power over national-domain land, mayor's certificate of ownership cancelled. Accessed 22 October 2026.
• Le Soleil, 7 July 2026: suspended sites, cancelled PUDs and regularisation timetable. Accessed 22 October 2026.
• Le Soleil, 29 January 2025: partial lifting by the DGID, sites still frozen. Accessed 22 October 2026.
• Seneweb, 13 March 2015: property transfer duty cut from 10% to 5%. Accessed 22 October 2026.
• au-senegal.com, based on senegalservices.sn: documents, authority and time frame for a transfer. Accessed 22 October 2026.
• Seneweb, 8 May 2026, land security guide: role of the land registry and notary, warning signs. Accessed 22 October 2026.