Among bills introduced in the Belizean House of Representatives shortly before Christmas was one which would repeal the existing Aliens Landholding Law.
Currently, there are controls on land ownership by foreigners in excess of 0.5 acre in a town or 10 acres in the country. The Minister of Natural Resources issues licenses if a satisfactory development plan is presented or is in existence. If a property is being sub-divided for sale, a subdivision permit must be obtained from the Minister of Natural Resources.
The intention of the legislation was to control land speculation, but it has not succeeded in doing this. Instead there will be a land speculation tax on large parcels of undeveloped land in excess of three hundred acres. The law will also restrict the availability of national lands owned by the government for lease and sale to 'deserving' Belizeans.
Foreigners will be able to buy land from private owners on the open market.
Good luck to the Belizean government, but history does not offer many examples of successful prevention of land speculation by Governments. Britain's now forgotten Development Land Tax was one such experiment - it didn't work, but teaching property developers how to avoid it did make many lawyers and accountants rich.
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