TAPU in Turkey: purpose and benefits

What is the Tapu in Turkey?

The Tapu or what is known as the “title deed” is the document that proves the ownership of the property for the legal owner, with the name and picture of the owner, the type and location of the property, in addition to its area and detailed and archived information about it. This document allows the owner the right to dispose of the property by renting, selling, or investing, and the owner cannot prove his ownership of the property without this document, which is granted by the Land Registry Directorate of the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Cities.

What is the purpose and benefit of Tapu transactions?

When you own a property on Turkish lands of any kind, the title deed "Tapu" is the official identity for this property. Once this document is granted by the Land Registry Directorate of the person, his possession of this property is officially proven.

This document is also required in some official and governmental departments, in the procedures of transactions related to real estate, from buying and selling and others.

Many people can own and participate in one property, and there is no specific number of owners.

It is useful to mention in this context, that if you have a percentage of a property or partners in the property that you own, it is possible to mention each person’s percentage of the property in the title deed, and the owners are partners in the entire property, meaning that there is no specific part or allocated to a person from real estate.

The title deed document is given to one person only and copies of it are not given to several people, and it contains detailed information about each person's share of the owners, and here the foreign person when buying a property in Turkey can obtain a "real estate residence permit" that he can also grant to his wife and children.

The foreign ownership law also allowed the property owner the right to apply for Turkish citizenship, if the price of his property or the total of his properties amounted to $400,000 thousand according to specific conditions and laws.

It must be noted here to an important point that has always occupied the mind of the investor or the owner in Turkey, which is the issue of inheritance, as under Turkish laws that allow high limits of freedom of real estate ownership, and also guarantee the right to inherit the property naturally, contrary to rumors.

Types of Tapu in Turkey

If you want to buy a property in Turkey, you must know several important and basic points about the subject of title deeds and their types in Turkey and the features and characteristics of each type.

The red Tapu

This title deed is allocated to residential real estates, such as apartments, villas, buildings, shops, and commercial real estate.

This bond includes three forms of ownership, namely:

• Shared title deed

This type of bond is based on a partnership system between a number of owners of the same property. It is also known as Transitional ownership: It is the right of ownership in real estate for a specific period of the year so that each of these owners has a specific period of the year in which he owns the property for an indefinite period, the minimum of which is seven days.

It is common in real estate for holidays and the like, and the owner has all the rights of ownership from selling, leasing, and assigning his right to other people.

• Easement bond

They are the title deeds that record each section of the property separately so that a suitable project is planned for construction on an allocated plot of land, then approval is taken for construction, and then the project is divided into independent sections, such as apartments within the building.

For each section of the real estate, a special deed is organized showing the location of the independent division and its information, without considering whether the project has been started or not. Building and obtaining housing approval, title deeds are allocated to the property.

This type of document proves the full ownership of the property of the person who owns it, and each owner of this property obtains an easement deed, which contains information on the place of construction, its area, and specifications, after which the owner is given his own title deed.

• Full title deed

It is called in Turkish the name (Kat Mülkiyeti), and it is a document that records the ownership of real estate after the completion of its establishment completely, and designates the independent sections in them, with obtaining approval to use each section independently, and each section is organized for its own full title deed, which proves the ownership of the bondholder over the independent section in the aforementioned building.

Title deeds and easement bonds differ from agricultural land titles and land suitable for construction in terms of the information contained in them. These bonds contain the number of the apartment or independent section, its location in the building, and its share of the land on which the building is built.

The blue or agricultural Tapu

Turkey's geographical location has an important role in influencing its climate and stunning nature, which makes its lands with its fertile soil suitable for agriculture and entering into agricultural investment and making profits in this successful sector, and therefore if you are thinking about agricultural investment in Turkey, you must know the types of agricultural land documents and instruments, which:

• Residential land bonds

This type of bond is allocated to agricultural lands that carry the status of construction and agriculture at the same time. This Tapu is granted to lands designated for construction or investment within the city’s organizational plans, and it is called in the Turkish language “Arsa”, where the landowner can build property in it with a special permit from the municipality to which this land belongs.

• The agricultural land title deed

They are in very large areas and are also known as field lands, and they are called in the Turkish language “Tarla” and it is possible to build on these lands with a percentage not exceeding 5% to 20% of the land area, and it enables its owner to invest and benefit from it by raising livestock, establishing poultry houses and others.

When the land takes the status of field land, this means that it is allowed to establish all kinds of agricultural projects in Turkey on it, such as agriculture, plowing, raising livestock and poultry, and other agricultural activities.

If you want to invest in agricultural land, you must check with the municipality to verify whether the land is truly agricultural or not. The land may be registered in the title deed or bond as agricultural land, but it is placed within the real estate scheme for construction in the area, so caution and ensure that this point is from the municipality of the same area to which the land to be invested belongs.

What is the difference between the red and blue Tapu?

There are several differences that you should know between the so-called red title deed and the blue title deed, as the blue title deed is intended for field lands suitable for agriculture or agricultural investment, or for owners of lands that are designated for construction and the establishment of housing projects and units, within an area allowed for construction.

As for the red title deed, it is granted to the owners of detached real estate, whether residential, such as houses and apartments, or shops and etc.

How to get the Tapu?

The need for competent authority to help

The large increase in the number of investors in the Turkish real estate market is due to the many facilities and advantages Turkey offers to the investor, and the huge profits and returns that these investments bring to the owner.

When owning and investing in Turkish real estate, you may find yourself needing the assistance of competent authorities to help you manage your transactions in order to avoid getting into illegal problems. The property you want to invest in may be subject to restrictions of seizure, mortgage, or confiscation, and this information is not mentioned in the title deed.

This deed must be registered in the real estate registry, and every title deed that is not registered in the real estate registry, even if it is certified and signed, is void and has no value.

Caution must also be taken when concluding sales and purchases at the public notary, and verify the authenticity of the bond in the real estate departments before completing the purchase process.

"Gars Consulting Company" provides full real estate registration services in accordance with legal principles, and has abundant experience in its field, with full knowledge of the requirements of government departments and all necessary legal documents, and its team includes elite professionals and legal professionals in the knowledge of laws related to real estate in Turkey.

Land Registry Directorate in Turkey

The title deed is extracted by the Land Registry Directorate of the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Cities, known in some countries of the world as the real estate registry, as the deed is recorded and kept in the records of those directorates.

Steps to obtain the Tapu

You must take simple steps to obtain the title deed:

1. The buyer of the property must come to Turkey to conclude the purchase contract transaction, or to appoint a trusted person to act on his behalf, through an official agency from the consulate of the home country or the Turkish embassy located there.
2. Getting a tax number from the tax department, given based on the buyer’s passport number, with copies of a copy of his passport translated and certified by a Noter (Turkish notary).
3. After completing these simple routine steps, the seller of the property goes to the Land Registry Directorate to assign the seller to the buyer of the property.
4. Then the new buyer hands over his title deed.

Documents required to obtain the Tapu

• Completion of all documents required for the title deed transaction.
• A copy of the buyer's personal identity card or the official power of attorney document in case the buyer has authorized a representative on his behalf.
• A personal photo of the seller and two photos of the buyer.
• Documents from the bank in case of taking a bank loan.
• The real estate registry document.
• An insurance policy against earthquakes and disasters.
• A common allowance document from the municipality to which the property belongs.
• Real estate appraisal document (for foreigners).

Tapu fees in Turkey

The Turkish government imposes certain fees on the title deed that those who want to buy a property on Turkish lands must pay, and it is not possible to transfer the ownership of the property in the title deed records from the seller to the buyer without paying these expenses.

Title deed fees are calculated on the basis of 4% of the price of the property to be sold, to be distributed among the followers, and these fees are paid in full before transferring the ownership of the property.

Edited by Gars Consulting Company

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