HLP: Rapid Tenure Assessment Guidelines 2015

The objective is to provide a framework for practitioners to efficiently understand relevant local legal, regulatory, and customary practices of security of tenure, and to acknowledge more diverse forms of tenure to enable the adoption of flexible approaches. Useful for contexts where individuals and families do not possess formal legal proof of ownership but need shelter assistance or services within camps and settlements. Questions provided are aimed to assist responders in understanding applicable legal and customary frameworks and provide guidance on how to apply them if a disaster occurs. Ideally, the assessment will take place before a disaster occurs with a legal adviser or HLP expert, but priority questions are highlighted for when this is not possible. Particularly useful for urban environments where a variety of tenure arrangements exist. 

Questions are grouped under six categories: 1) General overview of land and property (p. 20-21), 2) How are land and property administered and managed? (p.21-22), 3) Access to land. How are land and property occupied? (p.23-24), 4) Evidence of Security of tenure. How do people prove they live somewhere? (p.24-25), 5) Compulsory purchase and relocation (p.26-27) and 6) How are land and property disputes resolved? (p.28-29). Each category contains a concise overview explaining the purpose of the questions, key considerations for the category, and a list of specific questions 
to be answered for the assessment. 

Annex II provides a chart detailing the common forms of tenure; freehold, delayed freehold, registered leasehold, public rental, private rental, shared equity, shared ownership/cooperative tenure, customary ownership, religious tenure systems, and non-formal tenure systems, which is useful to understand the varied characteristics, advantages, and limitations of each (p.33-36).