Law N° 2004/003 of 21 April. 2004 governing town planning in Cameroon

Article 86: The right of pre-emption is a right that enables the public authorities to acquire as a priority a property that an owner wishes to sell. It applies in areas where the public authorities wish to ensure control of the land, control the evolution of land prices or acquire certain built or unbuilt properties, without however having recourse to the expropriation procedure.

Article 87: The State and decentralised local authorities may exercise a right of pre-emption over any property in order to carry out certain operations meeting objectives such as:

• Urban restructuring;
• The organisation or development of economic activities;
• The construction of public facilities;
• Implementing a comprehensive housing policy ;
• Stabilising property prices.

Article 88: Pre-emption rights apply to land classified in approved urban planning documents as :

a) Neighbourhoods to be restructured and/or renovated ;
b) Buildings to be demolished for non-compliance with an alignment plan or building easement;
c) Areas to be developed as :

• Street or square ;
• Public or recreational green space ;
• Collective equipment;
• Social housing zone;
• Building restoration area;
• Industrial estate;
• Sensitive area to be safeguarded for environmental, cultural, historical or tourist reasons;
• Land reserve.

Article 89:
(1) Any owner of a property located in an area subject to a right of pre-emption, as defined in article 88 above, and who wishes to dispose of it, shall inform the beneficiary of this right by means of a declaration and publicity, indicating the desired price and the conditions of sale.

(2) The beneficiary of the right of pre-emption must decide within a period of two (2) months, indicating the price he proposes to pay. Silence on the part of the beneficiary of the right of pre-emption during this period shall constitute a waiver on the part of the holder of the right of pre-emption. The owner is then entitled to sell his property to a third party at the price indicated in his proposal.

Article 90: Provisions relating to the right of pre-emption must be recorded on the town planning certificate, as defined in Title III, Chapter II of this Act.

Article 91: In order to meet their future needs related to urban development, the State or decentralised local authorities shall build up land reserves in urban or peri-urban areas. In order to do so, they are empowered to acquire land and property by means of. Common law, incorporation, expropriation in the public interest or exercise of the right of pre-emption.

Article 92: Each beneficiary of a land reserve is required to ensure its protection by all legal means in force: the Minister responsible for domains in the case of land reserves located on the private domain of the State and decentralised territorial authorities in the case of land reserves located on their domain.

Article 93:
(1) The beneficiary of a land reserve shall be authorised, after formal notice has remained without effect, to proceed without delay with the demolition of buildings and installations irregularly erected on the reserve.
(2) To this end, he may request the assistance of the forces of law and order.

Article 94: All withdrawals from an urban land reserve are subject to the preparation and approval of an appropriate development plan or urban planning document.

Article 95 : Security of urban land tenure is provided by the State to holders of title deeds, deeds convertible into land titles, deeds of right of use and land occupation authorisations.

Article 96 : The provisions of general town planning and construction rules, town planning regulations and public easements shall apply:

• Holders of land titles and other real property rights for the use of their land;
• The State and decentralised local authorities, when concluding leases, concessions and sales on their private property;
• Holders of authorisations to occupy the public domain;
• Occupiers of the national domain ;
• Land developers.

Article 97: Any occupation of public property belonging to the State or decentralised local authorities is subject to obtaining a prior. Authorisation to occupy the land on a temporary basis, issued by the competent authority.
In any event, none of these occupations must constitute an obstacle to the normal functioning of the town.

Article 98: Property rights may also be consolidated by clearance during approved development operations, whenever possible and in strict compliance with the provisions of the laws and regulations in force.

Article 99 :
(1) Administrative acts relating to land use and construction are:

• The Planning Certificate ;
• Authorisation to subdivide;
• Planning permission;
• Planning permission;
• Demolition permits;
• The Certificate of Conformity.

(2) The provisions relating to the certificate of conformity relating to measures, control and verification of constructions are defined in Title IV of this law.

Article 100 : The deeds referred to in article 99 above specify the rights and duties of their holder, in particular with regard to enjoyment of the right of ownership, use of the public highway and respect for neighbours.

Article 101:

(1) The Town Planning Certificate is an information document on the town planning rules and administrative easements to which a plot of land is subject. It indicates whether, taking into account the town planning provisions and administrative restrictions on the right of use applicable to a plot of land, as well as the state of existing or planned public facilities, the said plot of land :

• be used for construction or,
• be used to carry out a specific operation.

(2) The Town Planning Certificate is compulsory for all property transactions and must be attached to all land use applications.
It is not compulsory for public service concessionaires, who must submit their technical files for approval by the local town planning department or the department responsible for urban issues, as the case may be, in accordance with the conditions laid down by decree.

Article 102: The Town Planning Certificate is issued by the Mayor of the municipality concerned if it has a planning document, after receiving the technical opinion of the local Town Planning Department or those responsible for urban issues, as the case may be, under the conditions laid down by decree.

Article 103: Authorisation to subdivide, granted by the territorially competent authority, is a prerequisite for the creation of any subdivision.

It shall be granted in the form and under the conditions set out in article 62 of this law.

Article 104: Site Planning Permission is an administrative town planning document required for all constructions not eligible for Building Permission.
Anyone wishing to erect a building not eligible for planning permission, or to make alterations to existing buildings of the same status, must first obtain planning permission issued by the Mayor of the Commune concerned.

Article 105:

(1) Site Planning Permission is issued for buildings:

• Summaries;
• Precarious;
• Temporary.

(2) Buildings planned on National Estate land and possibly in areas designated for this purpose in an urban planning document, with the exception of land reserves and non adificandi areas, are also eligible for planning permission.

(3) The holding of a building permit does not in any way constitute a presumption of ownership.

Article 106 : Site Planning Permits are examined and issued in the forms, conditions and timeframes determined by decree.