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North Cyprus Reference

Usage certificate for over-limit pre-2024 contracts: ten years, ownership stays with the seller

Rule record · last verified 14 September 2026

Rule

While the decree is in force, a foreigner who has notified over-limit pre-2024 contracts may register contracts for dwellings (not land) at the District Land Registry, request the usage-certificate right and pay the title transfer fees, and receive a ten-year usage certificate. Ownership remains with the seller; the certificate cannot be cancelled during the period except on transfer or at the holder’s request; holders of properties under the holiday-homes regime receive an indefinite certificate; the certificate confers use and enjoyment but not ownership, and its rights other than the right to sell cannot be transferred; a positive security check and full payment of the price are conditions; no certificate is available for property in restricted zones; contracts not transferred within ten years become void.[1]

Applies to: Apartment · Detached house · Contracts signed before 21 May 2024

Legislation · Turkish Cypriot administration (TRNC) · 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, Article 8, new transitional Article 1(2)(C)–(D) · in force from 7 August 2026 · until 5 November 2026 · last verified 14 September 2026 · rule record

Where this rule comes from

Jurisdiction
Turkish Cypriot administration (TRNC)
authority
Council of Ministers, TRNC
Basis
Legislation · asserted by us within this jurisdiction
Verification
Primary source verified
in force from
7 August 2026
until
5 November 2026

Regulatory events

History of this rule

  • — First encoded from the primary text. (version 1, initial)

Sources for this rule

Numbered in order of first use. Each entry names the kind of source it is and the day we read it.

  1. [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 decree-usage-certificate-ten-years · Review priority: consequential · Open data · challenge this rule