Title Deeds in North Cyprus

One of the main question property buyers in Northern Cyprus ask themselves are the title deeds of the property. Title deeds are the full ownership of the property purchased in Northern Cyprus. It should be noted that even if the owner of a property did not receive title deeds, he still is the rightful owner of the property if his purchasing contract was registered in Land registry of Northern Cyprus and he can sell or rent his property.

Most people already know that in Northern Cyprus there are several types of title deeds – Turkish Title Deed PRE-74, Exchange title deeds, earlier Greek land TMD, and foreign title deeds PRE-74. After the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in 2006 about Immovable Property Commission, buyers of property in Northern Cyprus no longer fear that their property can be claimed by Greek Cypriots. Now all the claims are directly dealt by Immovable Property Commission, and compensation for the land is paid by two guarantor countries – Turkey and Greece.

Until recently, there was an unofficial limit for foreign citizens to receive Turkish titles on their property. Over 90% of foreign citizens did not receive Turkish title deeds. In May 2013, the restriction was lifted, and now buyers of property in Northern Cyprus, have no fears while purchasing property with Turkish title deeds.

Any purchased property abroad, including in property in Northern Cyprus, should be easy to sell at any given time. This is an important issue when buying property abroad. In Northern Cyprus, title deeds for property make it so much easier to sell it in the future.

Besides the question on which land your property is located it is important to know which type of title deeds there are in Northern Cyprus – separate, shared, or development title deeds. Development title deeds can also be individual specifying your share in the total territory of the complex. Development title means that you are the owner of certain share of the land and communal territory of the development your property is located in. After the receiving of the development title deed it is also possible to receive separate title deed for your property if the construction company will parcelize the title deeds to separate plots and properties.

Title deeds for the property will provide you with complete freedom in the event of sale or transferring of your property on another owner’s name. Individual titles, without a doubt, the most sought after by buyers. For example, Turkish Cypriots usually purchase property with ready individual title deeds as they can take loan from banks, if the property has title deeds.

In order to protect buyers’ rights the government of the TRNC adopted a new law allowing construction companies to separate title deeds prior to construction. It means that property buyers in Northern Cyprus can have a separate title deed for the land on which their house will be constructed.

So what exactly are the title deeds in Northern Cyprus? Title deed for a property in Northern Cyprus is a legal document confirming the right of ownership, with the number of land, the size of the site, and the owner's name. The original title page is given to the owner (upon the payment of tax for the transferring of the title deed). The title deed confirms that the full and complete ownership of the property is transferred to your name.