Housing in Samoa

About 95% of households in Samoa were owner-occupiers in the 2023 Household Income and Expenditure Survey. Around 1% rented, while about 2% lived free of rent from family or a church. The 2021 Population and Housing Census recorded customary land as 54.9% of reported land tenure and freehold land as 36.0%. Customary land is held under Samoan customary authority and cannot be treated like freely transferable private land. Family access commonly involves an aiga, meaning an extended family group, and may require the involvement of a matai, a family titleholder, or the relevant pule, meaning a person or authority with control over the land or arrangement. A village fono, the village council or meeting, may also have practical significance. These arrangements can provide housing access without creating individual ownership or an automatic right to use the land as security for a loan. Formal land information is handled through the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE), including the Land Registry and Customary Land Administration. A land search or Computer Folio Certificate can help identify the land category, registered proprietor or authority, lease or licence, access rights, boundaries and recorded interests. Flooding, drainage and road access should be checked separately because land tenure does not guarantee suitable services or safe building conditions. A customary-land lease normally requires a written application by a Samoan beneficial owner and identifies the agent, purpose, duration, rent or other consideration, review terms and covenants. The Minister or MNRE acts as trustee for the beneficial owners. A survey may be required, and the proposed lease can be published in Savali with an objection period of at least three months. Disputes may go to the Land and Titles Court. After approval, the lease is executed and registered with the Registrar of Land. For non-hotel and non-industrial purposes, the usual statutory maximum is 20 years with a possible renewal of up to 20 years; hotel and industrial purposes can reach 30 years with a possible renewal of up to 30 years. The authorised purpose, rent approval, registration and current fees need to be checked for the specific transaction. Housing forms include open Samoan fale and closed or open European-style houses. The 2021 census recorded closed European houses, extended closed European houses, open European houses and open Samoan fale as major categories. European-style single-level houses were predominant in the 2023 survey, while open dwellings were especially common in Rural and Outer Upolu and Savai'i. A house should be assessed for ventilation, storm exposure, privacy, cooking and washing facilities, sanitation, water storage and the condition of the roof and structure. Anyone building or extending a house generally needs Development Consent from the Planning and Urban Management Agency (PUMA) before applying for a building permit from the Ministry of Works, Transport and Infrastructure (MWTI). PUMA reviews development, environmental, social and economic effects. Projects valued above SAT 1,000,000 go to the Planning and Urban Management Board; projects below that threshold are handled by PUMA. Listed Development Consent fees range from SAT 30 to SAT 2,000 according to capital value and are non-refundable. A standard processing time is not published. A building-permit application can require the Development Consent, two sets of issued-for-construction drawings, a site or locality plan, floor plans, elevations, cross-sections, structural details, plumbing and drainage plans, electrical information, evidence of land rights and signatures from the building owner and landowner. Two-storey residential buildings generally require structural calculations from a Chartered Professional Engineer. The design may also need to address flooding, elevation above sea level, septic tanks or soak pits and setbacks. Compliance confirmations may involve the Land Transport Authority, Fire and Emergency Services Authority, the Electric Power Corporation and the Samoa Water Authority. The Samoa Housing Corporation (SHC) provides some financing and rental housing, but it is not a nationwide housing allocation system. Its listed standard products include a personal-guarantee loan of up to SAT 30,000 at 14% per year for up to five years, a mortgage-backed loan of up to SAT 250,000 at 8% to 11% for 15 to 25 years, and a land-purchase loan for freehold residential land with 30% equity. The Government Housing Grant Facility is listed at SAT 6,000,000 and targets first-time homeowners or large families through products that may reach SAT 50,000 without land security or SAT 250,000 with a mortgage, generally at 5% interest. Conditions can change, so the current SHC terms, eligibility, fees and repayment assessment should be obtained directly. SHC also operates 73 solid-structured rental houses in locations including Vaiala Seafront, Taumeasina or Moata'a, Fagalii or Vaimauga and Motootua. Eligibility includes Samoan citizenship, and the tenant pays a monthly rent and a one-month bond. The bond is refundable at the end of the tenancy subject to significant damage or rent arrears. No general national rent portal, rent-control system or broadly available social-housing allocation service has been established in the available official material. Private renting is governed mainly by the Property Law Act 1952 and the written tenancy terms. Samoa does not have a separately identified residential tenancies statute in the reviewed official material. A written agreement should state the term, rent, bond, utilities, repairs, occupants, subletting and the condition required at exit. A tenancy at will can generally be ended with one month's written notice. The tenant normally pays rent, keeps the premises in reasonable tenantable repair and returns the premises at the end. If fire, flooding, storms or earthquakes make the premises uninhabitable without tenant default, rent may be reduced or suspended. A lessor should give reasonable notice for inspection or repairs. One month's rent arrears or a covenant breach may support re-entry, but forfeiture requires a breach notice and an opportunity to remedy the breach. Public electricity supplied 99% of households in the 2023 survey, while public water supplied 86%. The figure was lower in Rural and Outer Upolu, where 64% used main public water. A rental inspection should therefore test the actual electricity, water, septic, drainage and waste arrangements rather than assume that a property has the same service level as another part of Samoa. At the end of a lease, tenants should document the handover and bond calculation. Registered leases, variations, surrenders, assignments, mortgage discharges and land documents should be recorded with the relevant land authority and kept with the housing records.