Joint venture with landowners: share ratios, signing money and rent

Most Dhaka buildings go up on land the developer does not buy. The landowner contributes the plot, the developer builds, and the finished flats are shared. Getting the numbers and the paperwork right at the start protects both sides for the three or four years the building takes.

The share ratio

Splits of 40:60 and 50:50 (landowner to developer) are common, and 60:40 appears on prime land. The ratio applies to the saleable area and car parks. Agree which floors and sides the landowners pick from, and how any extra area from a redesign is shared. Our landowner share calculator turns katha and FAR into flats on each side.

Signing money

A lump sum paid when the development agreement is signed, sometimes in parts. It has become the main way developers compete for land, and it adds directly to the cost of every flat. Record each part paid, by pay order, against the agreement.

Rent while the building goes up

Where the landowners lived on the plot, many agreements pay them a monthly rent until handover, and the REHAB code of conduct expects rental compensation if handover is late. Pay it on a fixed day each month and confirm each payment in writing.

Papers to register

• The development agreement (registered).
• An irrevocable general power of attorney from the landowners to the developer, so the developer can obtain approvals and sell its share.
• A schedule of the landowners' flats, once the drawing is approved.

Tax on landowner benefits

From FY2026-27, a 15% tax applies not only to signing money but to the flats and other benefits landowners receive from a developer (Prothom Alo, June 2026). On 12 flats worth ৳12 crore that is ৳1.8 crore, so landowners need clear records of what they received and when.

When it goes wrong

Around 450 landowner and developer agreements were cancelled in Dhaka in the first half of 2026. The Real Estate Act 2010 makes failing to hand over the landowner's share punishable with up to two years in prison or a ৳20 lakh fine. A landowner who can open a statement showing their signing money, every rent payment, the progress of the building and the flats allocated to them is far less likely to walk away.