Seychelles' Ministry of Lands and Housing is updating its digital platform, which is expected to be up and running by May next year, said a top official on Tuesday.

Speaking to the media, the principal secretary for Lands, Denis Barbe, said the Ministry is currently working with the Department of Information, Communication and Technology (DICT) to ensure product quality.

"The Lands Department already has a platform. However, it is outdated and it does not compile all the information needed. After it is updated, the platform will include different types of pertinent information such as the amount of land available in the Land Bank and will also include a way for applicants to check the progress of their application in the future. It will also help us with long-term planning, especially in terms of the types of land available, whether residential or other types," said Barbe.

He added that developers working on the platform will be given six months to complete this project but given the complexity of this project, there might be delays.

Barbe said the platform will be linked to work already being done to compile a comprehensive and credible list of land available and interested applicants.

"Any applicant who did not participate in the previous Land Point System exercises will be allowed to come forward and confirm their interest in land allocation. This will also be the case for applicants who had already started some form of transaction after the Land Point System and the process fell through somehow. At the time of the announcement the Ministry will extend a grace period of three months for them to confirm their interest," said the principal secretary.

Barbe explained that the exercise is meant to streamline and clean the current list of applicants so that this is a credible and comprehensive list that can be linked to the digital platform.

"This is necessary because we need a credible list. Once we have that, everyone can be given a realistic wait time regarding their application. Applicants will simply be able to interact with this system and not need to contact the department's staff, thus making the procedure more efficient. This will re-establish trust with the public and promote more transparency for this process," he added.

With the phasing out of the Land Point System in 2022, the updated list of applicants will be based on two main criteria.

The first will be the length of time since the application was made, and the second will be based on financial ability.

"This means that the oldest applications on the list will be considered first, taking into account they have the financial ability to buy the land and build a house, that is SCR 1.2 million," said Barbe.

The Minister for Lands and Housing, Billy Rangasamy said, "We want to make sure that people who have been on the list for so many years, in some cases more than 20 years are finally considered."

He added that someone does not need to have SCR1.2 million ($83,000) outright, they just need to be able to prove that they can get a loan around that amount. This also applies to people who wish to purchase land from the Land Bank next to their parent's land. In their case, they must prove financial ability up to SCR500,000 ($34,000).

The criteria for financial ability remains at SCR1.2 million because it covers both the sale of the land and the construction of the house.

Apart from these revisions, Barbe added that they are also exploring the possibility of creating a framework that allows people with the ability to contribute towards the infrastructure components to be able to do so, to reduce the amount of time they have to wait on the list.