How to check a developer in North Cyprus before you pay

In North Cyprus, almost nothing about a developer or a plot can be checked in a free public online register. You check by documents: ask the developer for company certificates, the title deed (koçan) of the plot and its type, the building permit, stamped drawings and the floor easement (kat irtifakı), and have your own lawyer confirm each one at the Land Office and other authorities. Off-plan, there is no statutory escrow, so the contract is your main protection.

What you can check and where

1. Company records

Ask for the certificate of incorporation, a certificate of directors and shareholders and a recent good-standing letter from the Registrar of Companies. Check that the company name on the contract matches the certificates and the name on the title deed or the building permit. If they differ, ask how the companies are related, in writing.

Ask whether the developer belongs to KTİMB and holds a contractor grade. Northernland, itself a developer, advises choosing builders registered with KTİMB.

2. Title deed and title type

Ask for a copy of the koçan for every plot in the project and a written statement of its type: pre-1974 Turkish, exchange (eşdeğer) or allocation. Your lawyer should confirm both at the Land Office. Why the type matters is in title deeds in North Cyprus.

3. Mortgage and cautions on the land

Developers often finance construction with a bank loan secured by a mortgage (ipotek) on the land. Before your title can transfer, the bank has to release your unit. Ask your lawyer to search for any mortgage, caution (şerh) or court claim. If there is a mortgage, ask for a letter from the bank undertaking to release your unit once you have paid.

4. Planning, building permit and drawings

According to Döveç’s 2026 inspection guide, a project needs planning approval from the Town Planning Department, then a building permit from the municipality, or from the district office in rural areas, under the Streets and Buildings Regulation Law (Cap. 96). Drawings are stamped by the KTMMOB chambers: architectural, structural and services. Ask for copies with stamps and dates, and check that the number of floors and units matches what you are being sold.

5. Floor easement (kat irtifakı)

Kat irtifakı links a share of the land to your future flat. Agency summaries of the May 2024 amendment, such as Tekce’s, say developers may sell to foreigners only units with kat irtifakı or full strata title (kat mülkiyeti). We could not confirm the provision in the law text, so ask your lawyer. Either way, ask whether kat irtifakı is registered and which unit number you are buying.

6. Contract registration

Your contract should be stamped at the Tax Office (0.5% stamp duty) and registered at the District Land Office within 21 days of signing. Keep the stamped copy. Registration protects you against the developer selling the same unit again. Steps and timing are in buying property in North Cyprus.

7. Completion approval

When the building is finished, the permitting authority issues a completion approval (tasvip), which Döveç describes as the local equivalent of an occupancy certificate. In Turkey the equivalent document is known as iskan. Separate strata titles follow. If a building is described as finished, ask for the tasvip.

8. Payments without escrow

We found no statutory escrow for off-plan sales in the north. Look for:

• payments tied to stages you can see, not large sums up front;
• a long-stop date after which you can cancel and get your money back;
• delay penalties;
• what happens if your Permission to Purchase is refused;
• the bank’s release letter if the land is mortgaged.

9. The foreigner share in the building

The decree-law of 11 May 2026, as summarised by Döveç, allows at most 80% of a housing project in development zones to be sold to foreigners, and in a single-parcel apartment building no more than half to foreigners of the same nationality or first-degree relatives. Ask how many units are already sold to foreigners and to your nationality. A sale above the cap may not receive a permission.

Warning signs

• The developer suggests its own lawyer for you.
• No copy of the koçan, or no written title type.
• A mortgage on the land without a bank release letter.
• No building permit, no stamped drawings or no kat irtifakı.
• Pressure to sign the same day, a large payment up front or guaranteed rental returns.
• A “finished” building without a tasvip.