Institutional pluralism and pro-poor land registration: lessons on interim property rights from urban Tanzania

While interim property rights are thought to achieve incremental improvements of tenure security and rights for the urban poor, there is surprisingly little research into the provision of starter documents in sub-Saharan Africa. Namely, how effective are interim property rights in responding to local demands for tenure security and rights in the long run and vis-à-vis other de facto and de jure tenure options? Drawing on an institutional analytic approach and mixed-method research, we study the Residential Licence programme of Tanzania, which offers short-term leases to around 220,000 plots in Dar es Salaam. This interim property right has undergone substantial institutional drift, with decreasing uptake rates, low renewal rates and poor updating of records. Today, landholders value other de facto and de jure proofs of ownership over and above the Residential Licence, which is now less perceived as pro-poor and fit-for-purpose. These results illustrate that interim property rights need maintenance and recalibration, or they will ‘come adrift’ amidst other institutional layers. Reflecting on the effects of institutional layering in property rights, this paper contributes to literatures on incremental land reform and demand for land titles, and it provides important policy recommendations relevant to urban Tanzania and wider contexts.