LEGAL ADVISORS
Before signing anything you need to no the contract is fair and legal. At this point, having a good lawyer is imperative before you do anything else. Met legal (www.nmplegal.com) a well organised legal firm based in the heart of Kyrenia to discuss what purchasers should be aware of before buying in North Cyprus. Naomi Mehemet a senior partner for NMP Legal was the perfect to explain the inn’s and outs of the legal system as she was born and bred in North London, but also speak Turkish fluently. She also studied at University College London (UCL), Graduating in 2001 and then went on to complete the Legal Practice Course at the College of law in London, passing her exams with distinction. Naomi explains that under the laws of the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC) non-TRNC citizens are entitled to take title to only 1 donum per household. Before the title deeds to the property can be registered in your name, you will need to have permission from the TRNC Council of Minister. This is explained in more details below. If you wish to take title to more than 1 property over 1 donum in an area, we can give you advice on using trustees or setting up a TRNC company to hold the title to the property to you.
The conveyance procedure followed by Naomi Mehemet & Partners is designed to ensure that your interest are protected as far as possible though the whole transaction. The first step would be an initial meeting with you to obtain information about the property you have chosen and any informal agreements you have made with the vendor regarding price, payment schedule and included items. This stage may also involve taking power of attorney from you to ensure we can act on your behalf to sign documents if you are away from North Cyprus for long periods of time.
We will then prepare a contract of sale to safe guard your interests. The contract of sale will include all important terms such as plot number, plot size, price, payment schedule completion date with penalty clauses for late completion and floor plans and specifications will be attached to the contract to ensure that the vendor is bound to carry out the construction work in accordance with these. The contract will be sent to both the vendor and the purchaser for viewing. When both parties are happy the contract will be signed. You will be given the option to pay the stamp duty at this point. Under new regulations, the tax Office are requesting to see a copy of the contract of sale prior to transfer of title with all stamp duty paid up. Stamp duty is payable at 0.5% of the contract date. If it is not paid in this time, it increases until it becomes 1.5% if paid after 6 months. You will have the option to pay upfront or pay on transfer of title and pay a higher rate.
We will next conduct the necessary land registry searches on your behalf to ensure that the vendor is the registered freehold owner of the land and that there are no mortgages/charges, injunctions or other encumbrance on the property. We shall also check building permission for the construction has been obtained. We will then make the application to the Council of Minister for your permission to purchase. The permission process can take a long time to complete, the current estimation is between one and two years. However this will not prevent you from moving into the property or leasing the property or possibly even selling the property – as standard practice. We always try to negotiate with the vendor the insertion of a clause into the contract allowing you to sell the property before taking title to the property. We can also provide advice on other ways to secure your interest until you receive your title deeds, for example by registering a change over the property.
Whilst processing your permit application the Council of Minister will take searches from the land registry, the military and the immigration authorities and provided that these are positive, the permission will be granted. In the event that your permission is refused, you will be able to nominate any other person to take title to the property on you behalf and hold trust for you with the drafting of the necessary trust deeds. Once your purchase permission has been granted, we will notify you and then fill out all the necessary land registry valuation forms for the valuation of the property. It is usually at this point that taxes will be payable. The taxes are calculated based on the land registry valuation and Land Registry Transfer fee – are currently at the following rates:6% ( However every purchaser has a once in a lifetime option to reduce this fee from 6% to 3%. At the time of transfer we will ask you whether you wish to use your option and if you do you will only pay 3%).
VAT – 5%
Stamp Duty 1.5% (if this has not already been paid – see above).
The taxes will be paid and the title deeds will be registered in your name. if you have left us with power of attorney, all of this can be dealt with without you being required to travel to the TRNC. We will then collect and kept the title deeds for you until you are ready to collect them.
