1. Clean freehold (foreign title British or foreign pre 1974).

2. Turkish title (Turkish owned prior to 1974).

3. TRNC title (Previously Greek owned prior to 1974).
TRNC - kesin tasarruf - absolute possession document - title deed. This is property or land that was in Greek Cypriot ownership pre-1974. When the Turkish Cypriot refugees came to the safety of the north after July 1974, they left all their possessions behind in the south. Accordingly, the Government then assessed on a points basis, the value of the refugee's forsaken assets in the south. With these points, the Turkish Cypriot refugee could take a relinquished Greek Cypriot house or land in compensation for his lost properties. He would then sign over his properties in the south to the TRNC government, who would then hold them pending a negotiated settlement between the north and south Governments. The refugee would then be issued with a title deed for his newly recompensed property. Until he received this title, he would not be in a position to sell. Our feeling is that as the island is heading, albeit slowly, for some sort of solution, whether it will be a negotiated settlement or annexation to the Motherland, then the TRNC title deed properties can be considered safe to purchase.

4. Land or property - Greek Cypriot pre '74 - no title deeds - yet unissued.

Some people offer for sale, for relatively nominal sums, these properties without deeds. They are sold for "air money" or "goodwill" usually, these need the purchase of additional points before the title deeds will be issued. It is our opinion that agreements should not be entered into for property that does not have a title deed issued by the relevant authority.

5. There is also the method of leasing land or property from the Government. These are usually derelict houses, which the Government will lease out for periods up to 49 years to foreigners who renovate the property at their own expense, and who pay a nominal ground rent for the lease period. An excellent example of the manner in which this scheme has been operated can be seen in Karaman (Karmi) Village.

6. Contractual or "cases pending" land or property. When one looks back to pre-1974, there were over two thousand British in the Girne area, and property was experiencing something of a boom. In the period up to the Peace Operation in July 1974, there were several hundred title deed applications pending and subsequently not processed, owing to the lethargy of the Greek Cypriot administration, and the political instability.

Following the formation of a Turkish Cypriot Government, a statement was issued that all foreign land and property ownership, once registered, would be respected. This has been done; the first cases have been to court, and as long as the owner can substantiate his original payment for the property, then deeds are issued. There are some seven or eight hundred cases to be heard, so unavoidably, the process will take some time.

The Land Registry values the property for Stamp Duty purposes. On the day of completion, the monies are paid by the solicitor or agent to the vendor and the Land Registry respectively; the name of the purchaser is entered into the Land Registry's record books, and the new title deed is subsequently issued. There is no rating system in the TRNC at the present time.

The legal system here is based on British law, with a number of first-class lawyers whom we are pleased to recommend.

Costs Involved with Purchasing in Northern Cyprus

Running Costs

Running costs of a property in Northern Cyprus are much cheaper than that of the UK and most of Europe. There is no rates system or community tax.

The main costs are electricity which is approximately £ 15 monthly per house and water costs. The annual council tax is approximately £15 which includes waste collection, pavement and road cleaning, etc.