The rules currently in force for foreign buyers are re-issued by decree
Decree 89/2026: the rules currently in force for foreign buyers
· Turkish Cypriot administration (TRNC) · Decree with force of law
Gazetted on 7 August 2026 after the ninety-day validity of decree 63/2026 ended, this decree carries the current limits (three apartments or six for recognising-state citizens; land up to 1,338 m²; house on up to 3,300 m²; two villas in an estate), the one-month contract registration rule, the one-year transfer and seventy-five-business-day fee deadlines, the eighty per cent project cap, the ten-million-euro investment threshold, the licensed intermediary investor, transfers to close relatives, and the transitional rules for pre-2024 contracts including the ten-year usage certificate. Its explanatory note records that a bill amending Law 52/2008 is before the Assembly’s committee.
- Before
- Decree 63/2026 of 11 May 2026 (same rules).
- After
- These rules apply for ninety days from 7 August 2026 unless renewed or enacted.
Rules introduced or carried by this instrument
- Current acquisition limits under the decree in force
- Register the stamped contract and apply for permission within one month, or the contract is void
- Current deadline: transfer within one year of the permission being published
- Current deadline: transfer fees within seventy-five business days; no utilities until taxes are paid
- Current cap: at most eighty per cent of a housing project may be sold to foreigners
- Current investment threshold: ten million euros
- Licensed intermediary investor
- A foreigner may transfer to close relatives with Ministry approval
- Usage certificate for over-limit pre-2024 contracts: ten years, ownership stays with the seller
- For two years, applications may rely on a construction permit or planning approval
- Completed, delivered dwellings bought before the decree: transfer within thirty-six months
Rules displaced or replaced
- Statutory acquisition limit: one property per foreigner
- Statutory deadline: transfer within six months of the permission being published
- Statutory deadline: taxes and fees within sixty business days
- Statutory cap on foreign ownership within one parcel
- Investment-purpose purchases outside the limits (statutory threshold)
Concepts
Sources for this event
Numbered in order of first use. Each entry names the kind of source it is and the day we read it.
- [1]Official Gazette No. 147 of 7 August 2026: Decree with force of law 89/2026 regulating the rules on acquisition of immovable property by foreigners
Official Gazette of the TRNC (State Printing Office) · Legislation and gazettes · 7 August 2026 · original in Turkish · accessed 14 September 2026 · register entry
Identifier event-2026-08-07-decree-89-2026 · last verified 14 September 2026 · Open data · challenge