New property law

[Reyntj]

> Transfer of goods sold to foreigners is carried out within 6 months. Otherwise, the Decision of the Council of Ministers allowing the purchase of real estate will be annulled and deemed invalid. > People who acquire excess property through a contract will apply within 6 months and obtain the title deed of one property, while selling the other property they have acquired within 24 months. Kaynak: “Müzayede” ile toprak satışı ve yabancılara mal artışı - Cenk Mutluyakalı

From what I understand this is the new law.
This is very problematic for some developers who don't issue deeds ..or take years to make them available ..not sure how that's going to work..there will be a flood of flats coming to the market here with people desperate to sell..from what I read previously that was part of the intention to lower prices.

[Groucho]

I've been saying for years, the rash of developments along the north coast would turn out to be unsustainable, now these companies selling off-plan will struggle to complete and the KKTC will be left with more half-built shells blighting the landscape... only solution will be CPO's and to confiscate the unfinished sites for social housing... Developers will be running off with down-payments... again!

The other questions are, where did all these developers imagine the sewage works, roads, hospitals, police, fire stations, ambulances, schools, electricity and water are going to be magically sourced from. The system can't cope as it is. The power cable under sea is too far off in terms of completion to be considered worthy of a promise to buyers. Caveat emptor.

[MnM]

The more information of this nature that I read, the more reasons I learn of not to re-invest in TRNC, as if there aren't enough now. We cancelled our trip and 11 viewings this week the day before we we due to fly out, because the rules changed literally days ago in that we can no longer register a Contract of Sale on a new purchase while our names are still on the Deeds for our previous property, even though our buyers have a Contract of Sale for our property registered with Land Registry. So it begs the question, how the keck are property owners supposed to move house???

[benjaminbutton]

Congratulations. someone who has seen sense. Try being someone trying to sell a house if the are over 85. Am just starting to go through this pallava. Its nasty, cruel and expensive. This Government should hang their heads in shame. They won't of course

[Reyntj]

There are now more questions than answers ..

[ljarvo]

So how you meant to transfer the property into your name if they refuse your permission to purchase because the property is foreign title (owned by English person in 1974)!

[Hector]

So, I have a registered contract of sale, moved in, and sold my previous villa (the sale of which took over 24 months). I have been waiting for well over a year for that buyer to get their PTP before we can apply for ours for the new villa. What exactly are we supposed to do? Imposing the 12% property tax has already killed the market.

[alsancak]

so if you do not take title deeds within the 6 months of permission being granted does the property revert to the previous owner or do the state take it

[Reyntj]

I just watched a video by select estates couldn't copy link it was sent on an email . He said his wife was a property lawyer so info is likely reliable. He said shared deeds can't be sold at all to anybody . Seems a bit weird . Also contracts can't be sold if the planning etc is not in place I understood that to mean that you can take deeds immediately . There is 1 year transition rule to help developers so they can still sell property on contract . Still more questions than answers . What happens to those after a year who hold more than 1 contract but deeds unavailable ...they can't sell any ? Probably nobody has all the answers here .

It seems they have made a complex system more complex ..their intention .is to reduce prices that certainly looks likely . They are complaining too many foreigners came and bought property but they gave the permission to build ..who did they think was going to buy them ??? I hope they don't end up with more half built properties if builders go bust.

[EnjoyingTheSun]

I've been saying for years, the rash of developments along the north coast would turn out to be unsustainable, now these companies selling off-plan will struggle to complete and the KKTC will be left with more half-built shells blighting the landscape.

We’ve had the joy of having 2 developments of flats built near us over the last 4 or 5 years with maybe 10% max having residents. That’s not to say the others weren’t sold but I have serious doubts they have been in any significant numbers. Most of the chatter about this property boom with people queuing up to buy seems to be coming from estate agents & people with skin in the game.
It’s supply & demand, if you build more than you sell then there won’t be a boom

[Reyntj]

From website

"
**For New Buyers**:
– All properties must have full or semi title deeds.

– Contracts without title deeds will not be accepted.

– No more shared title deed properties are allowed to be sold.



**Temporary Concessions**:
– However, with big pressure from builders, the government agreed to allow contract sales with planning permissions for up to one year."

There are certain developers in iskele who have sold 1000s of property and not yet made available deeds yet..their business model will have to change . The better developers issue deeds on completion .

[alsancak]

are apartments not all shared title deeds along with villas with a shared pool
I am sure that if you bought a villa in a block of 4 or 6 or 8 with a shared pool you had a title deed that would equate to either 5 or 7 or 9 shares equally split so now not saleable due to the new rules regarding shared deeds
It would appear that the country was over the moon to accept us bringing funds into the country but as they would rather we are no longer here have come up with a new plan to stop us taking our money out of the country

[Reyntj]

I think it refers to shared land deed with no house on the deeds which happens as a last resort often when the builder has done a bunk so the owners end up with just a titie deed with a share of the land . I suspect it means they will no longer issue deeds on this basis and full planning will have to be met before they issue a deed.seems to tie in with the new rules .it's now up to the buyer to check the developers have all the requisite planning in place to stop this sort of scenario.

[MnM]

Congratulations. someone who has seen sense. Try being someone trying to sell a house if the are over 85. Am just starting to go through this pallava. Its nasty, cruel and expensive. This Government should hang their heads in shame. They won't of course

I feel for you bb. I'm only 55 and I've practically had enough. This is the second time this has happened to us over the past few years.

The first time was when we wanted to buy a second property on contract only as both our names were on the deeds to our first place. We put an offer in on a place where we originally wanted to buy and this was accepted. We got to the Lawyers on the Friday morning and were told that the rules had changed literally on the Thursday afternoon meaning foreigners could no longer register a contact on a second property if their names were on existing deeds. Fortunately we were in TRNC at the time. It was odd really as we had also heard that the "government" were at the time considering allowing foreigners to buy up to 4 properties.

We could have stayed where we were, but given the virtually un-obstructed views of the mountains at the back and the sea at the front had been 95% compromised by further development, we decided to sell up so that we'd be in a position to buy something else straight away next time.

The second time, we were told that we could register a contract on a property if our Lawyers could show Land Registry that our house was sold by way of contract. Our sale completed last October.

This time were not in TRNC and had made plans to visit last week, everything booked, had 11 viewings planned with 5 agents in different areas. I checked with our Lawyers 2 days before to make sure everything was ok and was told, err, no, the rules have changed again and we can no longer register a contract on a property until our names are OFF our previous deeds and that could take 18 months to 2 years. Shafted again!!!

So at the moment we are thinking, do we keep our stuff in storage and wait potentially up to 2 years until we can buy somewhere, but storage is costing £175 a month leaving just £25 a month in interest earned. Do we move everything back to the UK at a cost of £1000 and back again when we can buy, or start all over again. Do we look at buying in RoC which is where we got married and spent several years going to and fro, BUT storage company said they cannot ship to RoC and RoC banks say they cannot accept transfers from TRNC / Turkish banks. If we move our stuff to UK and our funds, as soon as that happens I'd be liable for paying 20% CGT on the profit to HMRC which means we wont be able to afford to buy anywhere anyway - circulus plenus!

So again, it begs the question, if as foreigners who want to move, cannot register a contract on a property until their names are off their existing deeds, how the hell are people supposed to move house???

[wanderer]

Storage Trap our daughter is 2 years into £170 pm =£4070
At rhe time of Storage value of goods for sale as second hand £750 transpot £500 =£1250
Two years down the line she would be £5300 better off
WHAT COULD YOU BUY NOW TO REPLACE THOSE GOODS NOW

[benjaminbutton]

Begs the question doesn't it. This government clearly would like we "trouble makers" to shove off and stop making a nuisance of ourselves by asking too many awkward questions. However, those who would dearly like to cut their losses and leave, are being stymied at every turn, they can't sell and others can't buy. As I said earlier, try jumping these hoops when you are 85+ and problems are doubled. 85 is the cut off age - over and above that you are considered to be gaga and incapable of rational thought by the Government. If you are thinking of selling up, then make sure you allow plenty of time.

[MnM]

"trouble makers"

and second class citizens!

[Hector]

We are not even regarded as second-class 'citizens' as we will never be offered citizenship.

The government has, it appears, decided that we 'foreigners' who have or want to buy a property (and presumably our spending in the local economy) are no longer wanted in the TRNC. Personally, as a villa owner with a shared title contract, and despite having gone through the hoops to get Residency to visit for more than 30 days at a time, we won't be able to get Residency in the future, it appears, and our villa is now almost worthless.

[Reyntj]

It's all the russians and Iranians and builders fault mostly in iskele ..1000s of flats sold on contracts many with no deeds in place and who knows what will happen..people buying multiple properties on contracts circumventing the law and not paying taxes to take the deeds . The powers that be are at fault as well for allowing it ..huge tower blocks blots on the land scape without the infrastructure to support it ..now they have put in place laws that should have been in place from the outset . It's no surprise many Russians have bought iskele it mimics the skyline of communist Russia with uniform bland tower blocks. They think they are at home ...but with a pool. Nostrovia.




On the shared title I've heard different things from different agents ..one is now saying it's to do with land more than 1 donum. Don't think they have a clue either.

The new restriction on having deeds or at least a floor easement before you can buy a new house are sensible and comparable to the rest of the world . They have said they will look at anomalies. There are many questions though what happens if a contract is cancelled because there are no deeds ? Who owns the house then ? The developer? They should have to refund the money imo if they don't provided deeds imo as the law hasn't been changed to line the pockets of the worst developers .the ones I'm thinking of are not Turkish..

What's criminal also but doesn't effect the majority is the retrospective cancellation of trusts ...the news I had read was that mostly Jewish investors had set up 1000s of companies and bought lots of land .a lot in the karpaz. They allowed this to happen and now it's been completely unravelled and buyers will likely face huge losses . Can't help thinking this might be political with certain wars ongoing...doesn't effect me or many UK expats but it's the retrospective nature which seems wrong. I suppose again foreigners where only meant to buy 1 property and take the deeds if that had been followed or better still the appropriate laws in place at outset none if this mess would be at our doorstep. For some this is a huge mess now I'm not convinced the land registry are organised enough to deal with it .

[Dalartokat]

One Estate Agents take on the new law……….. https://northcyprusinternational.com/no ... 20property.

….and an Advocates…… https://www.erginellaw.com/2024-new-rul ... ners-trnc/

[Reyntj]

Thnx for that had 2 different answer to the shared deed question already ..

I suspect the lawyer here has it correct but who knows..

Foreigners are not allowed to buy an immovable property on shared title deeds unless it is a detached house or apartment. A maximum of 3 (three) foreign persons can buy such a shared title deed.

They where difficult to sell before . Trnc citizens in my experience won't touch them ...so that's just made it a lot harder to sell .

[Dalartokat]

Thnx for that had 2 different answer to the shared deed question already ..

I suspect the lawyer here has it correct but who knows..

Foreigners are not allowed to buy an immovable property on shared title deeds unless it is a detached house or apartment. A maximum of 3 (three) foreign persons can buy such a shared title deed.

They where difficult to sell before . Trnc citizens in my experience won't touch them ...so that's just made it a lot harder to sell .

According to Estate Agent speak….it seems everything in the garden will be lovely…eventually

[Keithcaley]

It seems to me - as Reyntj has said - that the new laws are aimed at wealthy foreign investors who have been widely abusing the system, and bypassing the existing laws by various means, including the (mis)use of Trusts.

As usual, they have taken a sledgehammer to crack a nut with the result that many individual homeowners are likely to be affected.

One hopes that the expat NGO's who have recently persuaded the Government to ease the financial requirements for Renters will soon take up the case for those who have been unfairly affected - it is not at all unheard of for new laws and regulations to be amended in the light of undesired side effects!

Sit tight, contact your expat organisation, and ask them to make representations on behalf of yourselves and others who are in the same position.

[Reyntj]

What's missing in the new law is that the lawyers should have a "duty of care " when conveyancing ..an expensive service here for doing very little and with no recourse for action if you buy a clanger ...

[benjaminbutton]

Ohhhhhhhh, how very, very true

[MnM]

Sit tight, contact your expat organisation, and ask them to make representations on behalf of yourselves and others who are in the same position.

I contacted one a few weeks ago to ask a simple question and all I got in response was that they cannot get involved. I replied saying I was not asking them to get involved, simply to ask a question, then heard nothing back at all. Perhaps they're all to busy trying to sell their properties

[Keithcaley]

Sit tight, contact your expat organisation, and ask them to make representations on behalf of yourselves and others who are in the same position.

I contacted one a few weeks ago to ask a simple question and all I got in response was that they cannot get involved. I replied saying I was not asking them to get involved, simply to ask a question, then heard nothing back at all. Perhaps they're all to busy trying to sell their properties

Which particular Expat organisation?

PM me if you prefer!

[MnM]

It was the BRS Keith. I simply explained our situation in order to ask the question "how are people supposed to move".

[Tanky]

What I and some others would like to know is this. Is this law retrospective to any properties purchased some 15-20 years ago?
Also what happens to people now who only hold a builders contract or ''Contract of sale'' and the original builder holds the Kocan due to the Army not allowing the house owner to gain their PTP. Thanks for all forthcoming answers.

Incidentally when I asked a solicitor all I got back was ''a good question" Tanky

[Reyntj]

I questioned the agent who wrote emphatically that foreigners could no longer buy shared deeds and sent the lawyers interpretation that 3 foreigners could buy a shared deed. Anybody who understands shared deeds would realise that's possible .

Seems uncertain . But to be fair to the agent they have written their interpretation of the new laws when others as yet haven't bothered probably because of the lack of clarity on issues .

[alsancak]

I believe this is already having a knock on effect for bars and restaurants as "foreigners" that paid good hard earned cash for their property have no idea if it is now worthless or not and are waiting for clarification from anywhere they can find it before going out for a meal or a drink
This new law is going to ruin many peoples lives that came here many years ago for a quiet retirement feeling comfortably off and welcome to now find themselves in a totally different situation as in a property they can not sell and feeling very unwelcome
This is my personal opinion which may differ from others

[benjaminbutton]

Being exact replicas of your description of people who came to retire and now don't know whether they are coming or going (quite literarily) i.e. what is the point of putting your property in the TRNC on the market, being quoted a figure which you are told is realistic for an early sale, only to find that as we are unable to obtain our full Title Deeds, combined with the new Government announcement, our property has in reality become virtually worthless. It resembles an auction in that an item is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. We've been out 4 times in the last fortnight ( lunch and evening meal) and without exception we were the only long stayers, the other couples were trnc locals and holiday makers (Brits) or foreign. I can't remember the last time we "went out for a drink", certainly not this year.

[alsancak]

that would suggest that all prices will increase in these locations to make up for the loss of revenue from the old regular customers that have been loyal for many years and blaming the minimum wage as the reason but obviously they will no longer need to employ people as they have no customers

[alsancak]

benjaminbutton have sent you a pm

[Tanky]

I note there are no replies to my last entry of some days ago. Surely there are many of you wise and knowledgeable people out there who know this one. I am just at a loss as this government went into this with no market (the people) in out at all. I did think also this was one for the BRS but ????

Tanky

[a1sysman]

I note there are no replies to my last entry of some days ago. Surely there are many of you wise and knowledgeable people out there who know this one. I am just at a loss as this government went into this with no market (the people) in out at all. I did think also this was one for the BRS but ????

Tanky

I don’t know, so didn’t reply as l had nothing useful to contribute. It wasn’t a case of ignoring your questions.
I can’t even recommend a solicitor you could ask for advice. Sorry.

[Reyntj]

Tanky Turkish Cypriots will be able to buy your property . As they won't be refused title also Turkish mainlanders probably . A big part of the new law was to make property cheaper for locals . The only difference for you now is you.might be on a timescale to sell if they enforce cancelling contracts . They have said they will look at anomalies . Although the counter argument would be that you should have been aware that ptp was not available if your property was near a military base . People are not replying as even a lot of so called experts are not sure . But your property had a limited resale market before the new law . From what I have read you have 2 years to sell ...but that's just my guess work could be completely wrong & if I where in your position would await clarification when things become more set.

Anybody with individual deeds has no problem they may even go up in price ..as the agents will only be able to sell house with deeds all the off plan stuff will crash and burn imo.

[wanderer]

deleted wrong info

[Hector]

It has certainly stopped us from spending any further money on our villa, that's for sure.

[MnM]

Stopped us from buying again up here. We'll be out in July to tie up some loose ends then off to Crete or Corfu.

[wanderer]

Under the amendment to the Storey Easement and Storey Ownership Law, it is not possible for the sale and/or transfer of any property which does not have separate individual deeds or temporary interim deeds (known as ‘Kat İrtifak Koçanı’ in Turkish) to take place. However, the amendment to the Immovable Property Acquisition and Long Term Lease (Aliens) Law suggests that whilst such properties can be sold to TRNC citizens, they cannot be sold to non-citizens. Therefore, at this stage, it is not clear whether or not you would be able to sell this property at all or whether you would only be able to sell this property to a TRNC citizen under the new law without first obtaining the individual deeds. The general consensus amongst lawyers is that it is not possible to sell or transfer the property without obtaining the individual deeds first.

[Hector]

This means that anyone without the individual kocan will be unable to sell and unlikely to want to spend further money on home improvements, furniture, etc., which will financially harm local suppliers and tradespeople. Will 'swallows' bother to visit so often or want to go through the joys of obtaining residency to avoid the 90/180 days?

As also said by others on this forum, this will (or should if they do their homework) put off foreigners from buying property in the TRNC, if only from the fear that even if they buy legally at the time, you will never know if the government will change the property laws and your property becomes worthless as they have just done.

[benjaminbutton]

MnM, just in time for you, yes.!!!! I absolutely love Crete. Its big enough not to feel as if you're on a tiny island. I love all the coffee shops and cafes around the armoury walls in Hania/Chania (I think it's called) It was my first choice 20 years ago, 2nd was Croatia and here third. Turned out not to be third choice lucky.

[MnM]

Yes it's a sad situation. And Hector hit the nail on the head above as to why we took the decision not to buy even an individual deed.

[benjaminbutton]

I sort of agree with Hector, but only sort of. If like me you have put off for a couple of years, having my Kitchen ripped out, thinking why should I, just to sell on to someone else, I might very well go ahead now. Its actually 20 years old, large and of Shaker design, and in pretty good nick. However, as it looks as this could well be my last resting place, I think to myself, Why the Hell not go ahead now. Same with not putting off having new bathrooms and shower rooms. Plus the garage gutted and loads of shelves etc. The list could go on.

[Reyntj]

For new buyers it will be more robust and the laws put in place simply should have already been there ..

The Draconian measures to existing contracts etc imo are aimed at all the off plan property sold in iskele mostly to jews Iranians and USSR countries . Any UK expats caught will just be collateral damage but not the target .

For new purchases the taxes are huge and unavoidable I total 17.5 % ...that and a flood of resale surely must crash those markets specifically iskele. I saw yesterday a 2 bed off plan resale offered at £73 k ..similar flats by the developer £158000...they have a clear plan here and I can't see it being reversed. Many locals we know are fuming at all the foreigners who are here now in iskele especially in the schools . This is a political move appeasing the citizens . That's what politicians do to stay in power.There are too many people in iskele sat on deeds. Some of it's the developers not releasing them but I know one of the biggest sites with the first phase has deeds only 30% of owners have took them . So the trnc hand has been forced. They want more Turkish less foreigners lower prices and only trnc developers and all taxes paid none of this sat on a contract .

I have 1 shared deed flat that I've resigned myself we will never be able to sell. I did buy it very cheap as a resale and so can't grumble and it's a good rental. Appreciate others may be in more difficult corners .

[wanderer]

Reyntj I can understand what you are saying regarding the mess that is iskelle and the coast road to Esentepe and tatlsu all greed or stupidity or both in the permissions given to build
Unfortunatly they have thrown the baby out with the bathwater on shared title property such as apartments or groups of villas which there are many they are unsaleable they have benn built and ocupied for 10 20 30 years on shared title .
I dont think that the Tapu has 3D maping for the kocan the UK doesn't most sites don't have ‘Kat İrtifak Koçanı’ t o get ‘Kat İrtifak Koçanı’ you need to get individual deeds for the property anybody got indivividual deeds on an apartment

[vialla]

Have TASINMAZ MAL KOCAN.WHAT IS THIS.

[13roman58]

Have TASINMAZ MAL KOCAN.WHAT IS THIS.It should translate the description of the land,size and location. No of floors ,kitchen bathrooms bedrooms terraces etc.
Then your name and % owned includes previous owners name and number of purchasers.
Full Kocan

[Reyntj]

Yes but on the shared deed for apartments it means just share of land with no detail of the flats rooms on the kocan

I bought mine resale so don't know how it got to that point. I assume it's something to do with failure to comply with planning or the builder doing A bunk but don't honestly know. I was told the tcs don't buy them & now foreigners can't it's tricky to say the least..if that's the actual rule ..

Again there should have been more robust laws in place already before they get to this situation . Having said that loads of flats in the UK now are unsaleable unable to get a mortgage due to fire regulations & management companies going bust ...it's not just here that's a minefield ..another political reaction to the Grenfell fire