Drafting of real estate legislation complete, consultations to continue– AG Nandlall

The Attorney General’s Chambers has completed the drafting of the real estate legislation, following aggressive engagement with stakeholders and other key parties.

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC, speaking during his weekly televised programme ‘Issues in the News’ made the disclosure on Tuesday.

 “The real estate bill is completed and I will be circulating it to the stakeholders in a matter of days and the consultative process will continue. Consultation is an important part of our governance and is an important part of our legislative agenda,” the AG assured.

Key components of the legislation will include a code of conduct for real estate agents and brokers, the formalisation of the current transaction process with enhancements, and greater protection for buyers, sellers, agents, and brokers.

He said the real estate sector is one that Guyana must regulate by way of legislation, under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) law. Last year, the attorney general met with real estate agents on numerous occasions, to discuss the enactment of legislation for this sector, which is expanding rapidly due to the massive transformation taking place in Guyana.

“Guyana, as is known, is scheduled to undergo a mutual assessment later this year and one of the deficiencies identified in our AML/CFT structure is the absence of legislation governing real estate transactions,” the AG said.

The government continues to modernise its legal architecture while developing new legislation to regulate industries that are expanding rapidly due to Guyana’s economic transformation.
This forms part of the government’s legislative agenda which is aimed at revamping many of the outdated laws and laying the foundation for the anticipated economic development.