Mortgage paperwork in Ghana: separate steps, separate fees at the Lands Commission
Consent, registration, discharge and cancellation each carry their own line on the Lands Commission's published fee list. The deed checklist can also ask for a GRA tax clearance certificate and evidence of ground-rent payment.
By Ernest · 24 October 2026
Public housing apartments in East Ridge, Accra. Photo: jbdodane, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
If you are buying property in Ghana with a mortgage - or paying one off - the paperwork is not a single registration. The Lands Commission's published fee list prices mortgage-related steps separately: consent, registration, discharge and cancellation each carry their own line, spread across different divisional schedules on the page.
The same applies on the document side. The Commission's deed registration checklist sets out what an instrument must show before it is accepted, and it can include a tax clearance certificate from the Ghana Revenue Authority and evidence that ground rent has been paid.
What the deed registration checklist asks for
According to the Commission's deed registration page, the document submitted must clearly show the date and nature of the instrument, the names and addresses of the parties, their signatures, the names, addresses and signatures of witnesses, a solicitor's stamp or seal, and an approved plan.
The site plan details must match the document - including the owner's name, the land size and location, and the signatures of a licensed surveyor and the Director of the Survey and Mapping Division. The back of the site plan must be signed by the parties, with witness signatures and addresses; a jurat is required if the document is thumb-printed, and an oath of proof must be executed.
On top of that, the checklist lists planning comments or approval with extracts from the layout from the Town and Country Planning Department for stool lands, a Tax Clearance Certificate from the Ghana Revenue Authority, all supporting or recited documents attached, and evidence of payment of ground rent where this is not a first registration.
The Lands Commission's deed registration checklist (lc.gov.gh, captured 24 October 2026; empty template placeholder line below the list cropped out).
The mortgage fee lines
The Commission's fees and charges page lists the following mortgage-related charges (accessed 24 October 2026):
| Item | Fee (GHS) |
|---|---|
| Consent to Mortgage (0.50 hectare / 1.0 acre or part thereof) | 750.00 |
| Application of Mortgages (Title Registration) | 343.00 |
| Application of Mortgages (Deed Registration) | 343.00 |
| Application of Mortgages Discharge (Deed and Title Registration) | 268.00 |
| Cancellation of Mortgage (0.50 hectare / 1.0 acre or part thereof) | 253.00 |
| Stamping of Mortgages | 110.00 |
| Stamping of Discharge of Mortgage | 80.00 |
Title registration and deed registration appear as two separate lines, each priced at GHS 343.00. The fee list adds notes to some of these lines. The Consent to Mortgage entry carries an inspection fee of GHS 60.00 within the regional capital and GHS 100.00 outside it; the page does not say whether that inspection fee is included in or additional to the GHS 750.00. The consent line sits in the Public and Vested Land Management Division's rate table, the registration, discharge and cancellation lines in the Land Registration Division's fee table, and the stamping lines in the Land Valuation Division's processing-fee schedule under Acts 767 and 793. Several entries add that the plotting fee for the first 0.50 hectare or 1.0 acre is GHS 120.00 where the land value is less than GHS 48,000.00, and 0.25% of the land value where it is more.
The mortgage fee lines in the Land Registration Division's table on the Lands Commission's fees and charges page (lc.gov.gh, captured 24 October 2026).
Before you apply
Fee schedules change. The figures above are from the Commission's website as at 24 October 2026 - confirm the current amounts and the exact requirements for your region directly with the Lands Commission before filing, and note that some charges, such as the inspection fee, differ inside and outside the regional capital.
Sources
This guide is general information about published requirements and fees, not legal or conveyancing advice. Use a solicitor for your transaction.