North Cyprus Conveyancing

North Cyprus Conveyancing is similar to conveyancing practice in the UK, but the process is less complex.

A buyer will normally find a local solicitor with whom he / she feels comfortable. This is definitely recommended as a first step. A list of solicitors is found on our Solicitors page.

A seller will normally hand to a prospective buyer a photocopy of the Title Deeds or Kocan. The front page describes the land and specifies the location, eg Karsiyaka , and pinpoints the plot using a parcel number, eg 77/1/1/2. At the bottom of the page, there is a history of the registered owners. This may spill over onto the second page. In addition, the seller will be able to provide a land plan which is a map showing the location of the parcel relative to adjacent land. Once again, the district, eg Karsiyaka will be shown at the top of the page, and all the parcels will display their unique parcel number, eg 77/1/1/2. This is similar to the Land Plan issued by the UK Land Registry.

If the buyer is seriously interested in a property, then the above photocopied documents should be handed to his solicitor. At this stage of the conveyancing process, the buyer should ask the solicitor about the land and the type of title deed. In the North Cyprus conveyancing process, there is no laid down series of searches that a buyer's solicitor needs to undertake prior to the sale being agreed.

If the property in question is an existing villa, then the buyer may wish to have a structural survey. The solicitor should be able to recommend an architect for this task. In addition, it should be relatively easy to discover who built the property. If the property is less than 10 years old and the builder is still in business, this is good news. If the property is under 5 years old, it may well be that the builder issued the original buyer with a 5 year guarantee. The original buyer should be able to advise on this by examining his contract of sale.

Prior to the start of the conveyancing process, it is important for the buyer to agree with the seller, especially if the property is an 'off plan' new build, what exactly is included in the agreed price.

Once these preliminaries are complete, then the conveyancing process is simple, speedy and straightforward.

Buyers should be aware that there will be an inevitable delay in the transfer of the deeds. This is because the solicitor will apply to the Council Ministers for permission to buy, on behalf of the buyer. The grant of permission is usually a formality, unless the buyer has a Greek sounding name, but can take up to several years. However, the buyer can take physical possession of the property in the meantime, and sell it on should he/she wish.

There is no developed local mortgage facility. Most UK buyers will obtain finance, should they need to, on the security of their main home in the UK. There are very few North Cyprus mortgage providers. Wellington Estates Ltd does offer a mortgage facility where the North Cyprus property acts as security rather than a UK home.