Legal assistance with real estate registration in Turkey

Registration of ownership of a property is a very important procedure, since it gives you official rights to real estate and eliminates problems in the future.

What document confirms ownership? What is TAPU?

When registering ownership of a property, the buyer receives a TAPU. Tapu is an official legal document, an extract from the Turkish real estate register, which confirms the owner’s rights to real estate. There are two types of TAPU: red and blue.

• Red TAPUis issued for a plot of land with built real estate.
• Blue TAPUis issued for a plot of land without buildings, for example, for a personal plot or building land.

What do you need to register a TAPU?

When registering a TAPU, you must comply with a number of requirements established by Turkish legislation:

• No debt or seizure on this real estate.
• No tax debt or mortgage on this property.
• Availability of ISKAN (act of commissioning of the apartment). If you do not have this document, it will be much more difficult or completely denied for you to connect water and electricity meters.
• The correctness of the indication of the plot of land in the document.
• Checking all registers of documents confirming ownership of real estate.

It is very important to check all these points both when preparing for the transaction and before signing the contract in order to avoid unexpected problems at the last stage. In such matters, a real estate lawyer with experience will help, who constantly monitors all the necessary registers so that your transaction goes through without problems.

What is indicated in the TAPU and how long does it take to receive it?

TAPU contains the following data:

• Address of the site on which the property is located.
• Photo of owner (optional).
• Information about registration of the site in the cadastral department.
• The condition of the property.
• Lot area.
• Ownership type of the object.
• Cadastral value of the property.
• Information about previous owners.
• Information about new owners.
• Date of purchase of the property by the previous and current owner.
• Registration number of the previous owner (this number changes when ownership is transferred).
• TAPU document registration data.
• Seal of the cadastral department and signature of the authorized person.

The period for receiving TAPU is usually up to 5 working daysfrom the moment the seller submits the application to the Cadastral Department.

Which authority carries out the registration?

The official body that deals with the registration of ownership of real estate in Turkey is the Cadastral Department. This is a government body that issues TAPUs to property owners.Recently, notary chambers have also been authorized to register property rights.

What taxes do you need to pay to the state?

The tax on the purchase of real estate in Turkey is 4% of the cadastral value of the property. According to the law, this tax is paid in half between the buyer and the seller. However, in practice, as a rule, the buyer pays the tax.