The right to individual property is protected under the law. All foreign and domestic private
entities can independently establish, acquire and dispose of interests in commercial enterprises.
Under the 2010 Land Act, foreign nationals are allowed to purchase and own land, provided they
have at least 20% owned local partners. There is no competition law or overall competition
regulator in Lesotho.
Secured interests in both movable and real property are recognized and enforced under the Land
Act 2010. The concept of a mortgage exists; The hostages are protected under the Deeds
Registry Act 1967.
Lesotho has a dynamic land tenure system dominated by customary and statutory land tenure
systems.
The property market is more skewed toward potential buyers in the middle to high-income
bracket, except for low incomes, and only a few, mostly middle to high-income people, rely on
real estate agents.
Unfortunately, the real estate sector is not regulated as there are no laws to guide its operation,
and the sector is not officially registered with the Ministry of Public Works nor the Ministry of
Local Government and Housing. As a result, property prices often increase in the market,
making properties disposed of by real estate agents expensive and inaccessible.
The lack of housing and housing finance data in Lesotho is a major problem and weakens
statistical analysis and weakens the basis for decision-making by the private sector and
government .
The National Housing Policy estimates that a total of 98,711 houses will need to be built by 2025
to meet the housing demand in Lesotho.
The 2015 Lesotho Housing Profile Report estimates that 5 195 dwellings or 8 932 rooms will be
needed to meet urban housing demand in a year.
The urbanization rate in 2019 was 2.33 percent, while the national household average size is
estimated at 4.8 persons for rural areas and 3.4 persons for urban areas.
Housing for the poor is mainly located on the periphery where land and rent are relatively cheap.
The private rental housing stock accounts for 50 percent of the urban housing stock and
accommodates about 52 percent of households renting single-row homes in urban areas.
The housing delivery system is primarily through homeownership that is financially sponsored
by individuals and through employment-linked housing rents for civil service employees. The
government of Lesotho provides housing quarters to its civil servants but does not provide any
direct housing subsidy. Formal private sector housing supply is concentrated at the top of the
market, leaving most people with no choice but informal housing. This is evidenced by the data
collected on the number of new homes completed in the city of Maseru in 2018, which were 326
approved building permits.