Title Deeds in Northern Cyprus

Title Deed is a term you face when buying property in Northern Cyprus. Since the word is not familiar to foreigners, there is a lot of confusion around the titles. That there are dangerous and safe titles. That without a title it is impossible to sell real estate. That the Greek Cypriots will come and take the apartment from you…

Let’s see what is important to know for buyers who come to Northern Cyprus. Why it is a must to check the title first. What else do you need to pay attention to before buying?

Northern Cyprus. Types of titles.

A title (or kochan in Turkish) is a document confirming the ownership of not only real estate, but also the land on which it is built. The title page confirms that full ownership of the property has been transferred to your name.

Let’s see what types of Title Deeds exist in Northern Cyprus.

In fact, there is only one Title of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, but we will touch a little on the names of the Titles, which arose due to historical events and are still found in various sources.

Turkish Title Deed “PRE-74”

The first and the safest title is the Turkish title, which is also called PRE-74. It means that the land was owned by a Turkish Cypriot or a foreigner before the division of the island in 1974. This type of title is recognized worldwide and has no claims from Greek Cyprus. There are quite a few such titles in Northern Cyprus, about 10%, and they are located mainly inside the island.

Exchange title Eşdeer

The most common, and also the safest, title is the Northern Cyprus Exchange Title. What does it mean? The former Greek Cypriot owner of the land after the events of 1974 received in return a similar piece of land on the Greek part of the island, which belonged to the Turkish Cypriot. Thus, the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots moved to different parts of the island, exchanging lands, hence the name of the title.

The title to this land is guaranteed by the government of Northern Cyprus and if you have bought a property with this title, you do not have to worry that anyone will demand the return of this land. After all, you can just as well make claims for exchangeable land in Southern Cyprus, which is twice as expensive as in Northern Cyprus.

TMD title

The title TMD means that the land was owned by a Greek Cypriot and was abandoned by the owner. The government of Northern Cyprus appropriated these lands and gave them into the possession of the Turks and Turkish Cypriots who took part in the hostilities of 1974. As a rule, these lands are disputed and this title is not secure. We strongly discourage foreigners from buying property with this title. Also, for real estate that is being built on lands with such a title, banks do not give loans.

What to check besides the title

To buy an apartment in Northern Cyprus, it is not enough to just check the title. You need to make sure that the land plot for construction is not pledged to the bank, whether a loan has been issued for it, etc. Otherwise, after the completion of construction, you will not receive an individual title until the developer solves all problems.

Property without title

Sometimes in Northern Cyprus you can find property at very low prices – £35,000-45,000. This means that the land plot does not have any title deeds. Such a property should not be considered for purchase because you will not be able to transfer the title to your name and there is no guarantee that you will not encounter problems when reselling this property in the future.

How does the title process work?

Let’s look at how titles are generally formed in Turkish Northern Cyprus:

The developer first buys land for construction. This land has a title that confirms the right of the developer to own this site.
After obtaining all the necessary building permits, the developer is issued one general title for the complex.
After completion of construction and commissioning of the complex, the state commission issues a permit to the developer to divide the common title into separate titles for each house (apartment) for buyers.
Only after that, the developer can divide the common title into individual ones, so that each owner issues a separate title in his own name.

The whole process can take a year or two.

Why do you need a title

The title not only confirms your ownership of real estate and land, but also helps to quickly sell an apartment or villa, if necessary. If you do not have an individual title, the person who owns the title – the developer or the former owner – will sign the contract. And there is no guarantee that nothing will happen in the future with the developer or the previous owner of the house, and you will be left with a property that cannot be sold. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you draw up a title in your name.

Title cost

The title service costs an average of £500. The fee for transferring title to your name is 6% for TRNC and Turkiye citizens and 12% for other foreigners (since 01.02.2023).

How many titles can a foreigner have

Under existing law, foreigners can only hold one title. However, it is possible to form a trust company in partnership with a Turkish Cypriot and invest in several real estate projects.

Is it dangerous to buy property in North Cyprus?

You may have heard about the frightening stories that the property bought in Northern Cyprus can later be taken away by the former owners of the Greek Cypriots who lived here until 1974.

In 2006, following a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, the Real Estate Commission was established in Northern Cyprus. All applications and claims from the Greek Cypriots were resolved with the help of this commission, and compensation was paid to the applicants by the guarantor countries – Greece and Turkey. Now all disputes are resolved in turn in the courts of the Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Therefore, there will be no problems when buying real estate.

Conclusions

In this article, we have shared complete information about Northern Cyprus Property Title Deeds. Be sure to contact Prime Pro Investment experts to make the process of buying property faster and safer!