The Essential Land Buying Checklist

What should you check before buying land?

Before buying land in Sri Lanka, verify the seller's authority, ownership records, surveyed boundaries, legal road access and suitability for your intended use. Investigate planning requirements, drainage, ground conditions, utilities and the full purchase budget. Resolve significant gaps before paying a deposit or committing to completion.

Write down the home or project you intend to build, preferred location, minimum usable area, access needs and total budget. Visit at different times, and after rain where practical. A plot can look attractive and still be difficult or expensive to develop.

Use this checklist with an independent lawyer/notary, licensed surveyor and, where needed, an engineer or planning professional. Requirements depend on the parcel, buyer and proposed use; have the relevant professionals and authorities confirm what applies. Editorial review: 28 September 2026. This is a preparation guide, not a legal opinion on a particular property.

Verify ownership and the seller's authority

Ask your independent lawyer/notary to examine the ownership documents and obtain the relevant registry records. The Registrar General's Department provides document-search and deed/extract-copy services. Establish whether the parcel falls under deed registration or title registration so the correct records and process are used.

Have the adviser investigate the ownership history, mortgages, competing claims and restrictions affecting transfer. A deed photocopy, rates receipt or agent's assurance should not replace that review. Request a written explanation of unresolved issues and the conditions required before proceeding.

• Match the seller's identity to the documents and confirm all necessary owners will participate.
• Have any power of attorney checked for validity and authority to complete the sale.
• For inherited, jointly owned or company-owned land, verify who can sell and the supporting documents required.
• Identify occupants, tenants, disputes or other claims affecting possession.
• For grants, permits or leases, confirm the interest offered and any restrictions or consent needed to transfer it.
• Confirm the buyer's eligibility to acquire the land, especially where foreign nationality or company ownership is involved, before signing or paying.

Match the survey plan to the actual plot

Give the survey plan and ownership documents to a licensed surveyor. Ask them to identify the parcel on the ground, verify its extent and boundaries, and explain discrepancies between documents, fences and occupation. Your lawyer should resolve the legal implications before completion.

Do not treat a fence or an agent's markers as proof of a boundary. Check for encroachments, drains, reservations and routes crossing the plot. For a newly divided lot, identify the exact lot number and relevant approved subdivision plan.

One perch is 272.25 square feet and one acre is 160 perches. For example, LKR 12 million for 10 perches equals LKR 1.2 million per perch. This illustrates the calculation, not market value. Compare usable area too: setbacks, slope and access can limit the space available for development.

Confirm legal and practical road access

A visible road does not establish a legal right to use it. Ask your lawyer whether access is public, privately owned or provided through a documented right of way, and check its conditions. Have the surveyor identify the route and width on the ground.

Test access for everyday vehicles, construction deliveries and emergencies. Ask the planning authority whether it meets the requirements for your intended development. A road serving an existing small house may not support a different project.

• Verify the complete route from the plot to an established public road.
• Check gates, bottlenecks, turning space, steep sections and drainage.
• Clarify private-road maintenance and shared-drainage responsibilities.
• Investigate proposed road widening or street lines affecting the plot.

Check whether your intended use is permitted

Take the plot details and proposed use to the relevant local authority and, where applicable, the Urban Development Authority. Confirm zoning, access requirements, setbacks and necessary approvals. Obtain written clarification where your decision depends on the answer.

UDA guidance requires written approval for development activity in declared urban development areas, including subdivision. Verify the applicable approval for the exact lot and read its conditions. Subdivision approval does not itself approve your proposed building.

Request relevant street/building-line information, rates records and any non-vesting or other certificates your adviser identifies. Check that each document matches the parcel and is acceptable for the transaction. No single certificate replaces ownership, access and planning checks.

Investigate flooding, slopes and restrictions

Look for standing water, drainage channels, erosion, recent filling, cracks and retaining walls. Ask neighbours about flooding and access during heavy rain, then have significant concerns assessed professionally. A dry-day visit does not establish building suitability.

For sloping or potentially unstable land, consult an engineer and check applicable landslide assessment or clearance requirements with the National Building Research Organisation. Hazard maps help screen a location; they do not replace a site-specific assessment where needed.

For low-lying or paddy land, confirm recorded status and the approvals required for filling or changing use with the relevant agencies, including the Sri Lanka Land Development Corporation and Department of Agrarian Development as applicable. Existing filling is not evidence of approval.

For coastal plots, check coastal-zone permit requirements and location-specific setbacks. Investigate any canal, watercourse, wetland, conservation or archaeological restrictions relevant to the site. Do not assume one setback distance or one authority's permission covers every location.

Confirm utilities and site-preparation costs

A nearby electricity pole or water pipe does not guarantee an affordable connection. Ask providers about availability, capacity, route permissions, connection requirements and estimated cost for the specific plot.

Check how wastewater and stormwater can be handled lawfully and practically. Without a sewer connection, have a suitable professional assess the space and ground conditions for an appropriate system. Do not assume drainage can be discharged onto neighbouring land.

• Obtain estimates for service connections and any required extensions.
• Check mobile coverage and internet availability if important to your use.
• Price surveys, ground investigations, clearing and approved site works.
• Include necessary retaining structures, drainage, access improvements and boundary work.

Collect documents and set the total budget

Keep a dated file showing who supplied each document, who checked it and what remains unresolved. Your adviser should tailor this list to the property; not every document applies to every sale.

• Add applicable stamp duty, legal/notarial work, searches, registration and any buyer-paid agency fees to the price.
• Include survey, valuation, engineering and approval costs, plus utilities and site preparation.
• Confirm loan terms and allow for a lower valuation or smaller loan than expected.
• Keep a contingency for uncertain site costs and a separate household emergency reserve.

Protect your deposit and check completion

Have your lawyer/notary review the agreement before paying a reservation fee or deposit. Identify the exact parcel, price, payment dates, outstanding checks, refund conditions and what happens if financing or an essential approval fails. Do not rely on oral promises about refunds.

Verify the recipient and payment instructions independently, use a traceable payment method and obtain receipts. Ask your adviser how mortgages or other outstanding issues will be resolved and how possession arrangements will be documented.

Before final payment, revisit the plot, confirm agreed conditions are met and check for changes in occupation or boundaries. Have the lawyer/notary arrange the applicable execution and registration steps and explain how you will receive the completed records. Keep the agreement, receipts, ownership records, survey and approvals together.

Your final land-buying checklist

For each item, record a status (verified, pending or not applicable), the supporting document, the person who checked it and the date. Assign each unresolved issue to someone and agree a deadline before the next payment. If essential documents are withheld, boundaries do not match, access is disputed or approvals are only promised, pause until your advisers resolve the issue.

• Seller identity, authority and necessary owners confirmed.
• Buyer's eligibility to acquire the land confirmed.
• Ownership reviewed; claims and restrictions addressed.
• Survey, extent, boundaries and exact parcel checked.
• Legal and practical road access verified.
• Intended use and applicable approvals confirmed.
• Flood, drainage, slope and special restrictions investigated.
• Utilities and site-preparation costs assessed.
• Total budget and financing confirmed.
• Deposit, refund, completion and possession terms reviewed.
• Final inspection, registration and document collection arranged.