Some studies done in western cities showed that the land pricing base is related to intervening agents such as: land owners, direct land buyers, and indirect “those who buy infrastructures” or the final beneficiaries and the promoting middlemen.
The owner sells the land either for money to resettle or to change activity and live on ones income. The promoter buys the land, equip and build to increase profits and resells. The land value increases. The process creates competition between groups because each one wants to maximize their profits.
The buyer at the same time behaves as an engine-has needs- as breaks- wants to minimize land market expenditures. In a favorable environment, the prices rise and urbanization increases, and when the economy deteriorates, the demand lowers and the market stagnates.
Some aspects of the land market in Mozambique
According to the Republic of Mozambique Constitution, Land belongs to the State. Therefore, according to the law, it is not allowed to sell, rent, mortgaging, pawning and conceding land.
Empiric studies on market land done focus more on per urban or rural areas. In these areas, land access occurs either by spontaneous occupation or by official attribution (Municipalities or registration offices)
At the moment there is no law that regulates urban land in Mozambique. However, several institutions are involved in administering land conflict resolution in urban areas. Administrative structures at quarters level (secretary) intervene in land concessions, inherited property, house building and occupation, land attribution, issues regarding land usurpation and population resettlement. At Municipality level, the Urbanization and Construction Directorate has the responsibility to layout and give land occupation title deeds. In urban areas, regardless of municipality structures impediment, private land transfer, land purchase and renting as well as inheritance are the major ways to acquire urban land.
Thus, urban land conflicts generally arise between administrative institutions and “owners” local population and between these and the formal right of users. In the first case, administrative institutions complain to the “owners” for selling the land without their permit ion while the “owners” accuse administrative institutions for attributing land to third parties without consulting them. In the second case, the “owners” try to obstruct the right of users to invest in a land that they expect to get back in the future.
Surveys done by the Eduardo Mondlane University Geography course students, showed that land value only varies according to supply and demand, and that the location factor has an influence. Some “owners” said to have regretted giving land to relatives for free, when they could now get a lot of money with its selling. “ Because there are many people wanting to buy”
The majority of the “owners” belong to low-income families; they sell land plots acquired either through inheritance or attribution by the Municipality, without added value investment to the land, to a buyer who needs it.
Land pricing is influenced mainly by habitation needs. In the last years, the demand for construction land increased considerably. The peripheral quarters were invaded by inhabitants, of high or low income, who come out from the “cement city” to build houses, “country houses” in the periphery. This citizen’s exodus increase land plots demand hence fore the rise in the plots price. In this instance, agricultural land and ecological changes effects have not been evaluated.
In the urban land plots acquisition process, all structures including the “plots owners” intervene. If the Municipality can do land occupation legally, the selling price is made by the “owner” (in million meticais) behind other administrative structures; a practice that is justified by the “owners” urgent need of money although they recognize that they have no legal rights to sell the land.
In this context, the urban land market assumes indefinite characteristics due to lack of a urban land development and management policy on one hand, by living in a centralized property way with market economy practices on the other hand. The land market is governed by non-structured norms whereby each intervenient tries to take advantages. It is urgent to establish land use mechanisms and good urban land management, according to well-formulated society interests.
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