Glossary

Allocation (tahsis) title

Also: tahsis koçanı (tr) · TMD title · allocated title

Title to property allocated by the TRNC authorities under Law 41/1977 to categories of persons other than equivalent-property holders, such as settlers and those who served in 1974, generally on land that was Greek Cypriot-owned before 1974. The original owner may retain a claim under the case law of the European Court of Human Rights.

Governed by: Settlement, Land Distribution and Equivalent Property Law, 41/1977Risk factor for: The Cyprus property disputePart of: Title deedFull explanation: Title deeds and ownership risk

Amendment Law 39/2024

Also: 2024 amendment · Taşınmaz Mal Edinme ve Uzun Vadeli Kiralama (Yabancılar) (Değişiklik) Yasası (tr)

The amendment to Law 52/2008 adopted by the TRNC Assembly on 20 May 2024 and gazetted on 21 May 2024. It redefined who counts as a foreigner, tightened acquisition limits, introduced an online application and fee, set deadlines for transfer and tax payment, banned trustee arrangements used to exceed limits, and created transitional rules for existing contracts.

Part of: Immovable Property Acquisition and Long-Term Lease (Aliens) Law, 52/2008Full explanation: Can foreigners buy property in Northern Cyprus?

Apostolides v Orams

Also: the Orams case · Case C-420/07

The case in which a Greek Cypriot owner obtained judgments in the Republic of Cyprus against a British couple who had bought and built on his land in Northern Cyprus. The Court of Justice of the EU (2009) held that such judgments must be recognised and enforced in other EU member states, and the Court of Appeal of England and Wales (2010) allowed enforcement in England.

Citizens of states recognising the TRNC

Also: reciprocal-rights nationals · KKTC’yi tanıyan devlet vatandaşları (tr)

Nationals of states that recognise the TRNC and grant TRNC citizens the same property rights. In practice this means Turkish citizens, who are allowed a higher number of units than other foreign nationals.

Condominium ownership and construction servitude

Also: kat mülkiyeti (tr) · kat irtifakı (tr) · individual title for an apartment

The legal regime under the TRNC Condominium Ownership and Construction Servitude Law (35/2010) that creates a separate title for each apartment or unit. Law 52/2008 requires it to be in place before a foreigner applies for Permission to Purchase, with a temporary exception for applications supported by a construction permit or planning approval.

Prerequisite for: Permission to Purchase (PTP)Full explanation: How does the buying process work?

Construction permit and planning approval

Also: inşaat ruhsatı (tr) · planlama onayı (tr) · building permit

The permissions that authorise a building to be built on a plot. Under the current decree, a foreigner may apply for Permission to Purchase with a construction permit or planning approval where a separate unit title cannot yet be created.

Prerequisite for: Final approval (completion certificate)Full explanation: What should a foreign buyer verify before buying?

Contract registration

Also: sözleşme kaydı (tr) · registering the sales contract

Recording a signed and stamped sales contract at the District Land Registry (İlçe Tapu Amirliği). Under the current decree a foreign buyer must register the contract and apply for Permission to Purchase within one month, or the contract is treated as void.

Prerequisite for: Permission to Purchase (PTP)Administered by: Land Registry and Cadastre Department, TRNCFull explanation: How does the buying process work?

Council of Ministers (TRNC)

Also: Bakanlar Kurulu (tr) · Cabinet

The TRNC executive body that grants Permission to Purchase and long-term lease permission to foreigners and issues decrees with force of law.

Decree with force of law

Also: Yasa Gücünde Kararname (tr) · YGK (tr)

An instrument issued by the TRNC Council of Ministers under Article 112 of the TRNC Constitution for urgent economic matters. According to the decrees themselves, such a decree is valid for ninety days and must be submitted to the Assembly; the property decrees have therefore been re-issued roughly every three months since 2024.

District Land Registry

Also: İlçe Tapu Amirliği (tr) · Tapu Dairesi (tr) · Land Registry office

The local office of the Land Registry and Cadastre Department where contracts are registered, title searches are made and transfers are executed before an officer.

Part of: Land Registry and Cadastre Department, TRNCFull explanation: How does the buying process work?

Encumbrances (mortgages, charges, restrictions)

Also: ipotek (tr) · mortgage · charge · takyidat (tr)

Rights of third parties recorded against a title, such as a mortgage in favour of a bank or the seller, a court order, or a restriction. A buyer who takes property subject to an existing mortgage may bear that debt, which is why an encumbrance search at the Land Registry precedes payment.

Risk factor for: Title transferFull explanation: What should a foreign buyer verify before buying?

Equivalent property (eşdeğer) title

Also: exchange title · eşdeğer koçan (tr) · esdeger · equivalent title

Title issued under the TRNC Settlement, Land Distribution and Equivalent Property Law (41/1977) to Turkish Cypriots who left property in the south in 1974, in exchange for points representing that property. The land was in most cases owned by Greek Cypriots before 1974, so the original owner may retain a claim under the case law of the European Court of Human Rights.

Governed by: Settlement, Land Distribution and Equivalent Property Law, 41/1977Risk factor for: The Cyprus property disputePart of: Title deedFull explanation: Title deeds and ownership risk

European Court of Human Rights

Also: ECtHR · ECHR · Strasbourg Court

The Council of Europe court that decides complaints under the European Convention on Human Rights. Its Cyprus judgments (Loizidou 1996, Cyprus v. Turkey 2001, Xenides-Arestis 2005) and the Demopoulos decision of 2010 frame the legal position of property in Northern Cyprus.

Final approval (completion certificate)

Also: Nihai Tasvip (tr) · Kesin Onay Belgesi (tr) · onay belgesi (tr) · certificate of final completion

The authorities’ confirmation that a building is completed in accordance with its permits. Individual titles for units are generally issued only after it, so its absence is a common reason title cannot yet be transferred.

Prerequisite for: Title transferFull explanation: What should a foreign buyer verify before buying?

Immovable Property Acquisition and Long-Term Lease (Aliens) Law, 52/2008

Also: Taşınmaz Mal Edinme ve Uzun Vadeli Kiralama (Yabancılar) Yasası (tr) · Aliens Law · Foreigners Law

The TRNC law that governs how foreign individuals and foreign legal entities may buy or lease immovable property in Northern Cyprus. It was substantially amended by Law 39/2024 and has been temporarily modified by successive decrees with force of law since 2024.

Related to: Permission to Purchase (PTP)Related to: Decree with force of lawAdministered by: Ministry of Interior, TRNCFull explanation: Can foreigners buy property in Northern Cyprus?

Immovable Property Commission (IPC)

Also: IPC · Taşınmaz Mal Komisyonu (tr) · TMK (tr)

The body established in Northern Cyprus under Law 67/2005 to decide claims by owners of property left in the north in 1974, awarding restitution, exchange or compensation. In Demopoulos (2010) the European Court of Human Rights held that it may be regarded as a domestic remedy that claimants must normally use before applying to Strasbourg.

Governed by: Law 67/2005 (Immovable Property Commission law)Related to: The Cyprus property disputeAdministered by: Immovable Property CommissionFull explanation: Property disputes, the European Court of Human Rights and the Immovable Property Commission

Independent lawyer

Also: avukat (tr) · advocate

A lawyer instructed and paid by the buyer alone, not introduced or paid by the seller or developer, who conducts the Land Registry checks, reviews the contract and handles registration and the permission application.

Prerequisite for: Contract registrationFull explanation: What should a foreign buyer verify before buying?

Investment-purpose purchase

Also: yatırım amaçlı satın alma (tr)

A purchase permitted outside the normal limits when it forms part of an investment in tourism, education, health, industry, agriculture, technology or research, subject to a minimum bank deposit and use within two years. Build-and-sell housing does not count as investment.

Governed by: Immovable Property Acquisition and Long-Term Lease (Aliens) Law, 52/2008Full explanation: Can foreigners buy property in Northern Cyprus?

Law 67/2005 (Immovable Property Commission law)

Also: Law for the Compensation, Exchange and Restitution of Immovable Properties · 67/2005 sayılı Yasa (tr)

The TRNC law establishing the Immovable Property Commission and the procedure for claims for restitution, exchange or compensation in respect of property within the scope of Article 159(1)(b) of the TRNC Constitution.

Licensed intermediary investor

Also: Lisanslı Ara Yatırımcı (tr)

A category created by decree in 2026: a foreign person or company licensed annually by the Ministry of Interior to take at least ten dwellings a year into its disposal by written agreement, without acquiring ownership, in order to market and transfer them to foreign buyers within two years of final approval.

Governed by: Decree with force of lawFull explanation: Can foreigners buy property in Northern Cyprus?

Long-term lease

Also: uzun vadeli kira (tr) · 99-year lease

A lease of ten to ninety-nine years available to foreigners under Law 52/2008 with Council of Ministers permission. It creates a registered right limited to the lease term, recorded on the title, that can be mortgaged, inherited and transferred.

Governed by: Immovable Property Acquisition and Long-Term Lease (Aliens) Law, 52/2008Full explanation: Can foreigners buy property in Northern Cyprus?

Northern Cyprus

Also: North Cyprus · Kuzey Kıbrıs (tr) · the north of Cyprus

The northern part of the island of Cyprus, administered since 1974 by a Turkish Cypriot administration that declared itself the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in 1983 and is recognised only by Türkiye. The Republic of Cyprus, an EU member state, claims sovereignty over the whole island.

Related to: Turkish Cypriot administration (TRNC)Related to: Republic of Cyprus

Permission to Purchase (PTP)

Also: PTP · purchase permit · satın alma izni (tr) · Taşınmaz Mal Alma İzni (tr)

The permission a foreigner must obtain from the TRNC Council of Ministers before a property can be transferred into their name. Applications are made through the Ministry of Interior, include a criminal-record certificate and a security check, and the permission lapses if the transfer and the taxes are not completed within the legal deadlines.

Governed by: Immovable Property Acquisition and Long-Term Lease (Aliens) Law, 52/2008Prerequisite for: Title transferAdministered by: Ministry of Interior, TRNCFull explanation: What is Permission to Purchase?

Pre-1974 Turkish Cypriot title

Also: Turkish title · Türk koçanı (tr) · Turkish Cypriot title

A market term for land that was registered to a Turkish Cypriot (or another non-Greek-Cypriot) owner before 1974 and has stayed in continuous registered ownership since. Such land is not the subject of a displaced Greek Cypriot owner’s claim, which is why it is generally regarded as carrying the lowest ownership-dispute risk.

Part of: Title deedRisk factor for: The Cyprus property disputeFull explanation: Title deeds and ownership risk

Republic of Cyprus

Also: Cyprus · the south

The internationally recognised state on the island of Cyprus and an EU member since 2004. EU law is suspended in the areas not under its effective control, but its courts and criminal law can reach people and assets elsewhere in the EU and the UK.

Related to: Northern Cyprus

Republic of Cyprus offences relating to property in the north

Also: usurpation · σφετερισμός (el) · Criminal Code Cap. 154

Provisions of the Republic of Cyprus Criminal Code that criminalise dealing with, or possessing and using, immovable property registered to another person without the registered owner’s consent. They apply under Republic of Cyprus law and have been used since 2024 to prosecute foreign nationals involved in property in the north.

Settlement, Land Distribution and Equivalent Property Law, 41/1977

Also: İskân, Topraklandırma ve Eşdeğer Mal Yasası (tr) · ITEM Law · İTEM Yasası (tr)

The 1977 TRNC law under which property left behind by Greek Cypriots in 1974 was distributed to displaced Turkish Cypriots (against points for property they left in the south), to settlers and to others, and under which equivalent-property and allocation titles were issued.

Related to: Equivalent property (eşdeğer) titleRelated to: Allocation (tahsis) titleFull explanation: Title deeds and ownership risk

Stamp duty on the contract

Also: pul vergisi (tr) · Pul Yasası (tr)

The duty payable under the TRNC Stamp Law so that a sales contract is "stamped"; the current decree requires the registered contract to have been stamped. Rates and deadlines are not yet verified from primary sources on this site.

Prerequisite for: Contract registrationFull explanation: How does the buying process work?

The Cyprus property dispute

Also: Greek Cypriot property claims · displaced owners’ claims

The unresolved conflict between the rights of owners displaced in 1974 and the titles issued and transactions made in Northern Cyprus since then. The European Court of Human Rights has held that displaced owners remain the legal owners of their property, while also recognising the Immovable Property Commission as a domestic remedy and the position of third parties now in possession.

Title deed

Also: koçan (tr) · kocan · tapu (tr)

The Land Registry record of ownership of a specific immovable property in Northern Cyprus. The registered owner named on the title, and any mortgages or charges noted against it, are what a buyer can verify at the District Land Registry.

Related to: Title transferAdministered by: Land Registry and Cadastre Department, TRNCFull explanation: Title deeds and ownership risk

Title transfer

Also: koçan devri (tr) · tapu devri (tr) · transfer of title

The act at the District Land Registry, signed before an officer on the official transfer form, by which ownership passes into the buyer’s name. For foreigners it can only take place after Permission to Purchase is granted and within the deadline set by law or decree.

Governed by: Immovable Property Acquisition and Long-Term Lease (Aliens) Law, 52/2008Full explanation: How does the buying process work?

Title transfer fee

Also: tapu devir harcı (tr) · transfer tax

The fee payable to the Land Registry on transfer of title, set for foreigners under the Land Registry (Fees and Charges) rules. The rate is not yet verified from primary sources on this site; secondary sources report changes in 2024 and 2025.

Related to: Title transferFull explanation: How does the buying process work?

Trustee (yediemin) agreement

Also: yediemin sözleşmesi (tr) · mütevelli (tr) · nominee arrangement

An arrangement in which another person or company holds property, or the shares of a company owning property, on behalf of a foreigner. Since Law 39/2024 such agreements may not be used to exceed a foreigner’s acquisition limits, and pre-existing ones had to be registered within a set period or became void.

Governed by: Immovable Property Acquisition and Long-Term Lease (Aliens) Law, 52/2008Full explanation: Can foreigners buy property in Northern Cyprus?

Turkish Cypriot administration (TRNC)

Also: Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus · KKTC (tr) · Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti (tr)

The administration governing Northern Cyprus. Its laws, courts and land registry operate on the ground and are the rules a buyer deals with in practice, while the administration itself is not recognised as a state by the international community other than Türkiye.

Part of: Northern Cyprus

Usage certificate (kullanım belgesi)

Also: kullanım belgesi (tr) · right-of-use certificate

A document introduced by decree for buyers whose pre-2024 contracts exceed the acquisition limits: ownership stays with the seller, but the buyer receives a registered right to use and enjoy the property for ten years (indefinitely for holiday-home schemes) without acquiring ownership.

Governed by: Decree with force of lawFull explanation: Can foreigners buy property in Northern Cyprus?