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Law regulating the Acquisition of Immovable Property in the TRNC by Aliens

Law regulating the Acquisition of Immovable Property in the TRNC by Aliens (Cap 109)

IMMOVABLE PROPERTY ACQUISITION

(ALIENS)

LAW TO REGULATE THE ACQUISITION OF IMMOVABLE PROPERTY BY ALIENS

1 ? This law may be cited as the Immovable Property Acquisition (Aliens) Law.

2 ? In this law ?

?alien? means any person not being a British subject and includes an alien controlled company but does not include and alien native of Cyprus;
?alien controlled company? means any corporation ?
(a) where the majority of the directors, or persons occupying the position of directors by whatever name called, are aliens; or
(b) where the majority of the voting power is in the hands of persons who are aliens, or who exercise their voting powers directly or indirectly on behalf of persons who are aliens; or
(c) where the control is by any means whatever in the hands of persons who are aliens;

?alien native of Cyprus? means ?
a- any person, not being a person who became a British Subject under the Cyprus (Annexation) Orders in Council, 1914 and 1917, born before the 4th November, 1914, of parents who at the time of this birth were ordinarily resident in Cyprus;
b ? the wife of a person to whom paragraph (a) applies, not living apart from such person under a decree of a competent Court or a deed of separation.

3- The Governor in Council may, by Order to be published in the Gazette, declare that expect with the consent of the Governor first obtained no alien shall, after the date of the order, acquire, otherwise than by inheritance, ownership of any immovable property situate within any area prescribed in the order, and any registration affected in contravention of the terms of such order shall be null and void.

4- (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations to be published in the Gazette ?

(a) prescribing the minimum size of plots into which an alien may sub-divide his immovable property for the purpose of sale;
(b) generally for the better carrying into effect of the purposes of this Law.

(2) Any registration of immovable property affected in contravention of any Regulations made under subsection (1) shall be null and void.
(3) Any regulations made under this section may enable the Governor to exempt, in such manner as the Regulations may prescribe, any alien or class of aliens from the operation of such Regulations and of the provisions to Section 5.

5- Nothing in section 3 contained shall prevent an alien from acquiring from another alien ownership of any immovable property which such other alien has lawfully acquired:

Provided that where such immovable property is sub-divided by or at the instance of the owner thereof into plots for the purpose of sale such plots shall be of the minimum size prescribed by Regulations made under this Law.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Immovable Property Commission Following the ruling on the case of Demopoulos vs.Turkey and 7 other cases the European Court of Human Rights on 5 March 2010, the Court upheld that the Immovable Property Commission in North Cyprus was an accessible and effective local remedy for all persons seeking redress and therefore an appropriate forum for deciding on complex matters of property ownership and valuation and assessing financial compensation.

Is acquiring property issues unrestricted in the regime that will be established after the acceptation of the Annan Plan? If not, what are the restrictions? Those who have resided for 3 years can acquire property freely.

Actual Procedure For Land and Property Purchase The actual procedure of property or land purchase would entail the following procedure:

Passports and Visas in Northern Cyprus A valid passport is necessary for entering and a visa is granted on entrance to Northern Cyprus.

Language in Northern Cyprus The official language in Northern Cyprus is Turkish.

Money and Banking in Northern Cyprus HSBC has a full service presence here.

Value Added Tax in Northern Cyprus Applied VAT rates are: 0%, 3%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%.

Postal Services in Northern Cyprus Incoming mail must be suffixed ?Mersin-10, Turkey?.

Leasehold Title Deed There is also the method of leasing land or property from the Government.

Some important points aliens should pay attention to when buying immovable property in the TRNC The most important point to be paid attention on this subject is that the alien himself or a lawyer he will appoint collects information from the relevant District Land Office about the land to be bought.

What is to be understood from the "1 donoum" limitation for aliens? When we look at Cap 109 which is the law regulating the acquisition of immovable property by aliens in the TRNC, we can see that this is possible only under certain circumstances.

The legal procedure aliens should follow when buying property from the TRNC For aliens to acquire immovable property in TRNC and becoming ?the owner? on the title deed of the immovable property, it is necessary that some documents (title deed, site plan taken from the authorized office etc), some forms consisting of personal details of the alien are submitted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and an application in person or via a lawyer is made to the same office.

How are the rights of Aliens reserved until the transfer of the title deed? If the necessary permits from the authorized offices are not ready by the time the title deed is to be transferred, the Alien person and/or Company may have to take some measures to reserve his/its rights because in such a case, although the Alien has paid all the amount due, the title deed of the immovable property is still under the name of the previous owner.

What is the amount of VAT aliens are liable to pay when acquiring immovable property? Upon obtaining the legal permits for the acquired immovable property from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Police and Security Investigation and lastly from the Board of Ministers, its time for the transfer of the title deed of the immovable property to the name of the alien at the relevant District Land Office.

Is it possible for aliens to establish a company and buy immovable property as a company? Limited or joint stock Companies established in foreign countries can be registered as a Foreign (or Overseas) Company to establish an office (or branch) in the TRNC, provided that the consent from the Ministry of Economy and a permit from the Board of Ministers is obtained.

Is it possible for aliens to have shares in Turkish Companies? For a company to be considered a Local Company, 51% of its shares must belong to a TRNC subject.

Regulation on the residence permits in TRNC for aliens. It is possible for an alien who has bought immovable property in the TRNC to obtain a residence permit.

About the Annan Plan. The Annan Plan, which was prepared by United Nations General Secretary Kofi Annan and which until very recently lit the way for the Cyprus problem is for now shelved as a result of a referendum to which Turks said ?yes? and Greeks said ?no?.

How would the Cyprus Republic structure according to the Annan Plan? According to the Annan Plan, Cyprus is a sovereign state with a non-annullable partnership structure that consist of one Common state and two constituent states; one being Greek Cypriot and the other Turkish Cypriot.

The definition of equality according to the Annan Plan. According to the Annan Plan, the Turkish, Greek and the Common States are of equal status.

According to the Annan Plan, how many Greek Cypriots shall be able to come into the TRNC? In the event that the number of residents who came from the other constituent state reach 8% of the population of a village or town between the 5th and the 9th years and 18% between the 10th and 15th years, in line with the law qualified as the Constitution, the State can limit the residence of persons who do not have the internal citizenship statue.

Will the economic embargoes and sports embargoes removed with the Annan Plan? With the coming into effect of the Foundation Agreement, it is ensured that both the economic and the sports embargoes are removed.

What will happen to immovable property acquired through equivalent property and then sold to third persons? These persons, just like those who have equivalents, shall be treated as though they themselves had left property in the South.

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