Urban Lands Lease Holding Proclamation No. 721/2011. Country/Territory Ethiopia Document type Legislation Date 2011 Source FAO, FAOLEX Original source Negarit Gazeta No. 4 of 28th November, 2011. Subject Land & soil Keyword Land tenure Urban land Lease Authorization/permit Expropriation Institution Agricultural land Transfer Geographical area Africa, Eastern Africa, Landlocked Developing Nations, Least Developed Countries, Sahel Abstract This Proclamation provides for the lease of urban land. “Urban land” means land located within an administrative boundary of an urban center; “urban center” means any locality having a municipal administration or a population size of 2000 or more inhabitants of which at least 50% of its labor force is engaged in non-agricultural activities. This Proclamation shall be applicable to all urban centers with in Ethiopia with regard to urban land. The Proclamation sets out the fundamental principles of lease and provides that no person may acquire urban land other than the lease holding system provided under this Proclamation. Also, no person may enclose and use any plot of land adjacent to his lawful possession without the permission of the appropriate body and no region or city administration may permit or transfer urban land in a manner contrary to the provisions of this Proclamation. An urban land shall be permitted to be held by leasehold: a) if its use is in conformity with the urban plan guidelines or, if the urban center does not have such guidelines, as per the regulations issued by the region or the city administration; and b) through the modality of tender or allotment. The Proclamation sets out the tender and allotment procedures. Any person permitted urban land lease holding in accordance with this Proclamation shall conclude a contract of lease with the appropriate body. Leasehold certificate shall be issued to a person to whom an urban land lease holding is permitted. The period of urban land lease shall vary depending on the level of urban development and sector of development activity or the type of service and shall have the ceiling of 15 years for urban agriculture. Full text English References - Legislation Repeals Re-enactment of the Urban Lease Holding Proclamation (No. 272/2002). Legislation | Ethiopia | 2002 Keyword: Land tenure, Urban land, Lease, Authorization/permit Source: FAO, FAOLEX