Land documents verified
Title deed, possession certificate, latest land tax receipt and location sketch must be in hand and agree with each other before any design money is spent. A mismatch found later stalls your permit by months.
What to look at
- A 30-year encumbrance certificate
- All prior deeds tracing the chain
- Latest thandaper extract and tax receipt showing the seller as current possessor
- Possession certificate and a reconciled survey sketch
- Partition deed or legal-heir documentation for inherited property
Documents to ask for
- Title deed
- Possession certificate
- Latest land tax receipt
- Location sketch / survey plan
- Encumbrance certificate
How to check it yourself
Cross-read five documents so they agree on survey number, extent, boundaries and ownership chain: sale deed, possession certificate, land tax receipt, location sketch or survey plan, and the encumbrance certificate. Registration of sale, gift and mortgage deeds is compulsory under Registration Act 1908 s.17(1). Mutation, pokkuvaravu, is governed by the Kerala Transfer of Registry Rules 1966 Rule 16 and is a fiscal arrangement that does not by itself confer title. Kerala practice is a minimum 30-year encumbrance certificate before a sale agreement — a convention banks and Sub-Registrar offices enforce, not a statutory figure. Encumbrance certificates are obtained at pearl.registration.kerala.gov.in. A 2025 Kerala amendment requires a pre-mutation sketch and thandaper application on the Ente Bhoomi portal before registration where the digital survey is complete.
Where this comes from: Registration Act 1908 s.17(1), s.32/33; Kerala Transfer of Registry Rules 1966 Rule 16 (required by law)
More plot and land checks before you build
- Soil test (SBC) completed
- Building rules feasibility checked
- Utilities and site risks screened
- Paddy land Data Bank status checked
- Coastal zone screen done
- Encumbrance certificate obtained
- Designer has visited the plot
- Measured survey plan in hand