Historically, the ministry of lands was established as a department of Lands and later changed into a full ministry which changed its name according to the functions within that specific period. The current name is Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development which encompass core sector Departments which are: Land Administration, Survey and Mapping, Physical Planning and Housing. Core sector units are Registration of Titles, Property Valuation, and District Land and Housing Tribunal.
Apart from that the Ministry has various Supporting Departments and Units which increase the efficiency of work in the ministry like Administration and Human Resources Management, Finance and Accounts, Internal Audit, Legal Services, Policy and Planning, Information Communication and Technology (ICT), Information-Education and Communication and Procurement Management. The ministry has an agency dealing with Housing and Building materials research, a commission dealing with Land Use Planning and also the National Housing Corporation.
The mandate of the ministry is to facilitate an effective management of land and human settlements development services for the betterment of social and economic well – being of the Tanzanian society. In that regard the ministry is vested with a specific vision and mission.

Ministers from 1959