North Cyprus Title Insurance?

[Brian Dellinger]

I've done a little internet searching and found nothing, and while I expect I know the answer already, could someone definitively tell me if title insurance can be purchased on property (or certain properties) in North Cyprus?

 

[Veronica]

If you intend to buy in northern Cyprus make sure you first check with the land registry office in Nicosia in the South to ensure the property or land it is built on does not belong to a displaced Greek Cypriot
The illegal north Cyprus government have been issuing title deeds to land belonging to Greek Cypriots. This is not legal and leaves the innocent purchasers at risk of having their property reclaimed by the rightful owner.

 

[Longterminvestor]

The issue of title deeds has been a major problem over the years - we have seen houses demolished due to illegal title deeds. Spending a few pounds at the start to confirm your legal position is money well spent!

 

[Veronica]

My advice is if you are British you would be better looking at the South as you would have better protection in many ways than the illegally occupied North. You can get permanent residency which will then give the right to travel to other European countries even after Brexit without visas. Health care is better here as is the general standard of living. Many people living in the north have to come over the border to buy things which they cannot get in the North.
Yes the houses are a little more expensive but that is because they are not built on illegally stolen land.

 

[FWL]

How do house prices in the south compare to those in the north?

 

[Veronica]

I just had look on a North Cyprus property website and was surprised that actually they are not as much cheaper as I thought. Maybe on average 10% less.
That certainly would not be enough for me to want to buy in a country that is illegal by all international standards. Also the current regime in Turkey is becoming a dictatorship and I would not want to live anywhere that is governed by such a country.

 

[Brian Dellinger]

All:

Thank you for your responses so far. I'm not British, but from the U.S. After a little research, I've realized that title insurance, while ubiquitous in the U.S., is still foreign to most Europeans. I understand there are severe risks with investing in North Cyprus. I'd been sent a package for a beach resort, and it got me interested in exploring a bit further. But already being aware of the title issues since the Turkish coup, I was trying to research if there were any title insurance companies that insured title to at least certain of the properties in North Cyprus (perhaps the ones that didn't have disputed titles). It sounds like title insurance has not made its way there, which is what I suspected.

 

[realdeals]

If you could buy a property which has no title deed issues now or in the future you could be on to a winner. However, this issue has been dragging on for years and I doubt any insurance company would have the confidence to offer a title deed insurance service. To me, the risks seem to far outweight the rewards at the moment.