Real estate in Thiès, Senegal: buying and renting with the right title, in the right zone

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Aerial view of a dense city with streets and residential buildings

Guide

7 June 2026

9 min

· Rédaction Imonga

In Thiès, Senegal, a safe purchase rests on two checks: the property is backed by a land title (titre foncier) or a State lease (bail), and it does not sit in a perimeter where the administration has frozen land procedures since 2024. The sale of a titled property is signed before a notary. For rentals, a 2023 decree caps the deposit. This guide gives no price per square metre: we found no reliable public series for Thiès as of 8 October 2026.

Thiès in figures: a region that is 57% urban

Public figures cover the Thiès region, not the city alone. According to ANSD's Situation économique et sociale de la région de Thiès 2024 (summary published on vie-publique.sn, accessed 8 October 2026), the region has 2,524,516 inhabitants, or 13.6% of the national population, on 6,601 km², with 382 inhabitants per km² and an urbanisation rate of 57%. Its urban population rose from 872,112 to 1,415,612 between 2013 and 2023.

Do not pay extra for a "TER nearby" that does not exist yet. According to Le Soleil of 26 September 2026 (article on the TER extension, accessed 8 October 2026), the extension of the train to Thiès, over about 25 kilometres, is at the preliminary study stage, with studies due to last 20 to 24 months. No opening date has been published. For towns closer to the capital, see our guides to real estate in Diamniadio and real estate in Dakar.

Buying in Thiès: land title first, notary second

Ask for a titre foncier, or failing that a lease granted by the State, and never pay on the strength of a délibération alone. The governing text is Law No. 2011-07 of 30 March 2011 on the land ownership regime. According to its summary on vie-publique.sn (accessed 8 October 2026), only the State may apply for the registration of a property in the land books, and the law keeps two principles: the land title is intangible, and no real right exists without registration.

The papers a seller shows you do not carry the same weight. The au-senegal.com guide to property titles (accessed 8 October 2026) separates them as follows:

Titre foncier: the most complete and most secure form of land ownership in Senegal.
Bail: a contract by which the State grants a person or a company the right to use a plot.
Délibération: a decision by a local authority granting a right to occupy or use land. In the guide's words, a délibération is not a title of ownership.
Domaine national: the regime created by the 1964 law, which covers land that is not registered.

The notary is not optional. The summary of Law No. 1985/37 of 23 July 1985, which replaced article 383 of the Code des obligations civiles et commerciales, states that this article imposes the obligation to sign contracts before a notary, on pain of absolute nullity. The au-senegal.com guide adds that any sale or transfer of a property with a titre foncier must be carried out before a notary. Choose your own notary, have them check at the land registry (conservation foncière) that the seller is the registered holder, have a surveyor (géomètre) check the boundary markers, and pay the price only at the notary's office, against a receipt.

Costs (registration duties, land registry fees, notary fees) depend on the price and on the deed. We could not open an up-to-date official scale, so we give no percentage: ask the notary for a written quote. See also our articles on purchase costs, notary fees and registration and on land checks before buying a plot.

Zones frozen since 2024: Nouvelle Ville de Thiès and Mbour 4

Two perimeters in Thiès were named in the 2024 suspension of land procedures: check that the plot is not inside them before paying anything. According to Actusen of 30 April 2024 (article on the zones concerned, accessed 8 October 2026), a memo from the Director General of Taxes and Domains provisionally suspended the processing of files in several zones, including the "Plan d'aménagement de la Nouvelle Ville de Thiès" and the subdivision known as "Mbour 4" in Thiès. It covered plot allocations, applications for a lease, for final transfer and for authorisation to sell, plot divisions, entries at the land registry and the registration of deeds of sale.

According to Le Soleil of 29 January 2025 (article on the lifting of suspensions, accessed 8 October 2026), procedures could resume for rights holders with a release clearance (quitus de mainlevée) signed by the Director General for the surveillance and control of land occupation, but the Nouvelle Ville de Thiès plan stayed suspended. According to Le Soleil, republished by SenePlus on 6 July 2026 (article on the unfreezing of subdivisions, accessed 8 October 2026), the Prime Minister's office announced that the PUD (plan d'urbanisme de détail, a detailed urban plan) of Nouvelle Ville de Thiès had been cancelled and that the remaining deeds and arbitrations would be finalised during the second half of 2026. Until then, building work remains prohibited without prior authorisation.

We found no up-to-date official list of released plots. If the land lies in one of these perimeters, demand the quitus de mainlevée and have your notary confirm that the transfer can be registered. A seller who pushes you to sign quickly is a warning sign: see our article on real estate scams to avoid.

Renting in Thiès: capped deposit, rent paid at month end

A landlord is not free to set the deposit or ask for months in advance. The reference text is Decree No. 2023-382 of 24 February 2023 amending Law No. 2014-03 of 22 January 2014 on rent reduction, published in Journal officiel No. 7605. According to SenePlus of 7 March 2023 (article on the decree's reforms, accessed 8 October 2026), it came into force on 1 March 2023 with the following reduction scale:

Monthly rent	Reduction
300,000 FCFA or less	15%
300,001 to 500,000 FCFA	10%
Above 500,000 FCFA	5%

According to the same SenePlus article (link, accessed 8 October 2026), for leases with a rent of 500,000 FCFA a month or less: the deposit (caution) cannot exceed two months' rent, only one month is payable on moving in, and the balance is spread over twelve monthly instalments. Rent is not paid in advance but at the end of the month of occupation. The agency or broker commission is brought down to half a month's rent.

To leave, the summary of Law No. 1985/37 (accessed 8 October 2026) states that article 576 of the Code des obligations civiles et commerciales cut the tenant's notice period from six months to two, served by extrajudicial act. These texts may have been amended since: have your lease read by a lawyer or a notary. We have no sourced rent survey for Thiès. To prepare the visit and the contract, see our viewing checklist and our article on leases, deposits and notice.

Frequently asked questions

Can you buy land in Thiès with a délibération?

You would be buying a right of occupation, not ownership. The au-senegal.com guide cited above recalls that a délibération is not a title of ownership and that the domaine national covers unregistered land. Have a notary review the file before any payment, and prefer a property with a titre foncier or a State lease.

Is a notary mandatory to buy in Thiès?

Yes for a property with a titre foncier. The summary of Law No. 1985/37 states that article 383 of the Code des obligations civiles et commerciales requires the contract to be signed before a notary, on pain of absolute nullity. Pick your own notary and consult them before signing anything with the seller or the seller's broker.

What is the price per square metre in Thiès?

We do not publish a figure. As of 8 October 2026, we found neither official statistics nor a large enough set of listings to give a reliable price. Compare several properties with the same land status in the same area, ask the seller for supporting documents, and have the property valued by a professional before negotiating.

How many months of deposit to rent in Thiès?

According to SenePlus of 7 March 2023 (article on Decree No. 2023-382, accessed 8 October 2026), the deposit cannot exceed two months' rent for leases of 500,000 FCFA a month or less, with only one month payable on moving in. Check with a lawyer that these rules have not changed since.