About
We offer an end to end investment solution and are the only company that will manage your investment journey every step of the way. From the moment of reservation, during the management of your investment and through to the exit plan, Relocate North are here to provide you with independent, expert advice.
We represent 5 largest property developers in Northern Cyprus.
OUR SERVICE IS FREE OF CHARGE
Carefully chosen considering their 20 years of experience and current projects portfolio we secured also independent legal representative and your tour guide when visiting.
Team
Sasha Lazic
Partner
Making sure that project list and prices are up to date. Sasha has experience in structuring offers for real estate projects from 2005 dealing with projects in Serbia, Greece and South Cyprus
Christa Vollberg
Partner
Based in Germany Christa was running Real Estate company Dr. Christa und Partner GmbH from 1989- 2017. Her extensive experience is helping with coordination of projects in North Cyprus.
Services
CONSULTING
Securing all required information about real estate market and helping you to define your purchase goals.
PURCHASE PROCESS MONITORING
Guiding you through all steps before, during & after purchase. Inspection trip, independent lawyer, bank account set up, reservation fee, residential permit.
MANAGING INVESTMENTS
Construction updates, payment plan execution, property & keys delivery. Renting or resale of the property.
Projects
PURCHASE PROCESS IN NORTHERN CYPRUS
Selecting a property
Reserving a property
Drawing up and signing the Contract of Sale
Registration of the Contract of Sale in the TRNC Land Registry
Transferring the title deed to the purchaser's name
If you have decided to purchase a property on the Mediterranean coast in Northern Cyprus, it is essential to view all the options that interest you personally. You should make Property Inspection Trip and familiarize yourself with all the offers available on the spot. You can get more information about the organization of the trip by contacting us. We would recommend to select desired properties before inspection trip and have conversation directly with developers over zoom call and ask any question prior traveling.
The legal purity of the deal
Given that the drafting of the Contract of Sale is a complex process, you can't do without legal support. A solicitor analyses the property developer's documents and checks that the relevant building permits, construction permissions and approvals have been obtained. Then the solicitor draws up the Contract of Sale. The contract with the solicitor is concluded on the date of signing of the Contract of Sale. Legal support costs about £1,300.
Agreeing on a payment plan
Once you have decided on the property you want to buy, your first step is to agree on the property cost, terms of the contract and a payment plan.
1. Standard payment plan for completed property (+3 months for finishing works): 60% of the price has to be paid by the time you get the keys (as your property will be delivered in 3 months after signing of the contract, you can split this sum into 3 payments); You are provided with an interest-free 24-month installment payment plan for the remaining 40% of the cost (if necessary, you can take a loan).
2. Standard payment plan for property under construction: A down payment is 30% of the acquired property value; Another 30% have to be paid by the time you get the keys (payable within the whole construction process in equal installments – monthly/quarterly); You are provided with an interest-free 24-month installment payment plan for the remaining 40% of the cost (you can also take a loan, if necessary). Payment plan is agreed upon with a buyer individually before the Contract of Sale is signed. Then a buyer has to pay the reservation fee to secure the property and have it removed from the market. The amount of the reservation fee does not depend on the cost of the property and forms part of the purchase price. Some developers for property with cost over £50,000 are requesting £5.000 reservation fee.
Drawing up the contract
The Contract of Sale is drawn up by the solicitor and is the main legal document confirming that the purchase and sale transaction has taken place. It comprises the information about the new owner and their rights to carry out transactions with the given property, including leasing and further alienation (sale, gifting, bequeathing) of the property. Such document as “a technical passport” of the property does not exist in Northern Cyprus and all the relevant information, including floor plans, the title deed and etc., are provided in the form of attachment to the Contract of Sale as its integral part. Moreover, the contract comprises the information about the seller and the buyer of the property, the detailed description of the subject of the contract – a property (address, registration data, technical specifications, the number of rooms, covered area, the right to use communal territories, etc.). The contract also includes the details of the terms of the transaction – property cost, the amount of the deposit paid, payment plan and the key delivery terms. The Contract of Sale can be drawn up in pounds sterling, US dollars or euros at the buyer's request. All the arrangements and terms agreed upon with the developer have to be stated in the contract or its attachments, otherwise they are not legally valid. The Contract of Sale also states the fact that the property is not in security and is free of any third-party claims and rights, which is additionally checked by the lawyer before the signing of the contract. The Contract of Sale also comprises the clauses protecting the interests of the property buyer as well as penalties applied to the developer for failing to comply with the contract. The contract is drawn up in English and Turkish, in triplicate, all the copies having equal legal power. The legal services are partly or fully paid for (depending on the agreement reached, after signing the Contract of Sale).
Registration of the contract in the Land Registry. Once you have signed the Contract of Sale, it must be registered in the TRNC Land Registry. For having the contract of sale registered, you have to pay the Stamp Duty. The amount of the fee is 0,5% of the value of the acquired property object, specified in the contract. The Contract of Sale has to be registered in the Land Registry within 21 days after being signed. The registration is carried out by a solicitor. In the Land Registry, the Contract of Sale is stamped, which confirms the legal validity of the transaction. Once the Contract of Sale has been registered, it acts as a charge on the property and protects you from the risk of double sales or mortgages. Registered Contract of Sale confirms your ownership of the acquired property in TRNC. This contract entitles you to obtain a Residence permit in Northern Cyprus, use the property personally, lease or even sell it, if your purchase is buy to sell investment plan.
Transfer of Title
The final step of the purchase procedure in Northern Cyprus is obtaining the title. All the necessary documents are prepared by a solicitor. For obtaining the title deed in Northern Cyprus, a non-TRNC citizen has to obtain a special purchase permit issued by the TRNC Council of Ministers. The permission is issued on the request of the solicitor acting on the buyer's behalf (or on the request of the buyer's trustee). In order to obtain the purchase permit, the buyer needs to provide their clear criminal record certificate which can be issued by your local police department in your country. The certificate must be notarized or have an apostille stamp affixed to it. Once the purchase permit from the Council of Ministers has been granted, the property is transferred to the buyer's name and the buyer gets separate (or shared, if the complex hasn't been completed yet) title deed. The procedure of getting the purchase permit from the TRNC Council of Ministers and the transfer of the title to the new owner's name takes from 4 months to 1 year. Before transferring the title deed to the buyer's name, the buyer has to pay the Transfer Fee of 3% of the assessed value (if it's their first property purchase).
PROPERTY TAXES IN NORTHERN CYPRUS
When purchasing property in Northern Cyprus, you have to pay the following taxes in stages:
1. Stamp Duty Stamp Duty (the state fee for the stamp) is a mandatory tax, payable to the Tax office for the registration of the Contract of Sale in the Land registry. This fee is to be paid within 21 days from the date of signing of the Contract of Sale. The amount of the fee is 0,5% of the value of the acquired property object, specified in the contract. The payment is made at the stage of signing of the contract.
2. VAT The amount of VAT is 5% of the value of the property specified in the contract of sale and is payable within 3 months before the keys are received.
3. Transformer charge The amount of the transformer fee varies depending of the purchased object, including the provision of electricity and water communications as well as the telephone lines (from £1,500 to £2,250). It is payable within 3 months before the keys are received.
4. Transfer fee The transfer fee has to be paid to the local Immovable Property Commission before transferring the title to the buyer's name. The amount of the fee is 6% of the property acquired value and is calculated on the basis of the estimated value. Currently, a buyer has a one-time right to reduce the transformer fee to 3% (if they buy a property for the first time).
Maintenance Taxes
1. Annual property tax The amount of the tax depends on the area of the acquired property and is calculated based on the rate of 1,25TL (0,2 euros) per each sq. m. of the covered area of the property annually (area of the open terraces is not included). You have to pay this fee after obtaining the title deed, once a year in the municipality at the place of residence.
2. Annual tax on cleanliness The tax on maintaining cleanliness includes cleaning roads, garbage disposal, processing plants from insects. The fee is a fixed amount of 100TL (regardless of the property type and the residential complex).
Income tax on rented properties
If you lease your property, you have to pay the tax at the rate of 10% of the rental fee.
Capital Gains Tax
This tax is analogous to the Income Tax and, as a rule, is payable by the vendor of the property at the moment of selling their property object. The amount payable depends on whether it is a professional vendor (a property development company, for example) or a private individual. If the vendor is a professional, the tax rate will be 4,7% of the property value. Private individuals have a single tax-free sale right for a house or land not exceeding 1 donum (14,400 sq. feet or about 13,38 acres) without olive or carob trees growing on the territory. If the area exceeds 1 donum in size, the single tax-free sale option can be used only for the first 1 donum, and Capital Gains Tax will be payable on the remainder of the land at 2,8%. If there are olive or carob trees on the territory, the Capital Gains Tax will be payable at the rate of 2,8% on all the area of the land except the area of the building.
MAINTENANCE COST
Property maintenance costs (30.07.2022 Turkish Lira 100 – 5.5 Euro)
Monthly fees and other costs associated with owning property. Fees payable upon the delivery of the property to the owner (at the house commissioning stage):
Electric meter
Once you have accepted the property from the developer, you need to have an electric meter installed. It is performed by the employees of “Kibtech” power company. The cost of installing is 1,100TL.
Water meter
You also have to install a water meter to measure the volume of water consumed. The cost of installing is 400TL, which is payable to the accounts department of the property development company at the stage of receiving the keys.
Monthly maintenance costs
Property owners pay the public utilities bills monthly in accordance with the consumption:
Water – 1 cubic meters / 10TL (payable by pre-paid electronic water cards in the accounts department of the property development company);
Electricity – from March 1 2022 a single tariff has been introduced 0-250 kW
- 0.98 TL /kW 251-500 kW
- 1.70 TL 501-750 kW
- 2.00 TL 751-1000 kW
- 2.25TL More 1000 kW
- 3,30 TL Gas bottle bottle 10 kg
- 255 TL (one bottle will last for up to 3 months);
Electric meter (monthly fee) - 35TL;
Internet - 10Mbit / 150TL 20 Mbit / 220TL
30 Mbit / 350TL Mobile Services (maximum package – “Mega-package” (unlimited calls within the network, 100 minutes of international calls, 1000 SMS, 20Gb of internet) – 220TL
Annual maintenance costs
Maintenance fees are to be paid once a year and vary depending on the type residential complex where the property is located. Maintenance fees in Northern Cyprus range from £25 to £250 per month. We recommend that you specify the price beforehand. Maintenance costs are payable in the accounts department of the Managing Company. The list of Maintenance services includes:
- Site lighting and cleaning;
- Gardening services;
- Pool cleaning services;
- Hallway lighting and cleaning;
- Elevator lighting and cleaning
