All about the (Tapu) title deed document in Turkey

The title deed is the only guaranteed document that would secure the right to ownership of any sort of real estate, whether a house, land or a commercial unite.
The title deed is considered the only guaranty, and that is a fact not only in Turkey but as the global protocol of buy-sell real estate property, Which is known as Tabu in the Turkish language
But what the title deed as a concept does mean?

(Tapu) “title deed”: is the document that regulates a specific property, proves the ownership of the property by the person mentioned in the official records, illustrates information about the property, real estate survey numbers, and specifies the location of the property.

This document is regulated by the Real Estate Registry Directorate of the Ministry of Environment and the Turkish cities.


Subsequently, in this article, we are telling you all you must know about the different kinds of real estate title deeds in Turkey, the cost of extracting a title deed of your property, plus crucial information in terms of legitimate and legal aspects of the (Tapu) title deed document in Turkey:

The Types of (Tapu) title deed document in Turkey:

1- Full title deeds  (Kat Mülkiyeti):
(The title deed is known as the red tabu)

The complete title deed is called in Turkish (Kat Mülkiyeti), it is a document that records the ownership of real estate after the completion of its construction ultimately, designates the independent sections in them with obtaining approval, and organizes for each section a complete title deed of its own, proving the ownership of the bondholder on the separate section in the aforementioned building.

In terms of the information contained therein, where the number of the apartment or the independent section, its location in the building, and its share of the land on which the building is located, is mentioned in these bonds, and in the absence of such information in the title deed, this means that the property in question has not yet obtained the full right of ownership or the right of real estate easement.


2- Agricultural title deed in Turkey:
(The title deed for this type of land is known as the blue tabu)

The agricultural land in Turkey indicates the land whose owner is entitled to carry out any pastoral work or the like, such as raising poultry or livestock within the owned land allocated for this project.

Note: if you are planning to buy land in order to build your own country house and cultivate the land at the same time, You must consider that the blue title deed for agricultural lands does not give the owners the right to build on the same land unless the landowner obtains permission from the municipality and then extracts a new title deed for construction.

It is necessary to know that not all lands can be built or constructed. Therefore, the investor must inquire if the land to be purchased is capable of reconstruction or not and whether it is possible to obtain a reconstruction permit from the municipal administration or not.

3. Real estate easement bonds (Irtifak Tapu)

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

That type of title deed is mainly extracted for the under-construction real estate property; at any stage during the construction, the owner of the under-constructed apartment will get an appointment from the administration of the municipality to come over to examine the purchased constructed real estate in order to give the (Irtifak Tapu).

But it must be taken into account that when the property is ready, the owner must obtain a new title deed for the apartment and do all the previous procedures all over again.


4- Commercial real estate registry (Ticari Tapu):

The Commercial real estate registry must be obtained if the property is intended for commercial activities. Real estate of this type includes offices, shops, stores, similar shops, and another real estate of commercial use.

The commercial real estate registry is organized by writing down the name of the owner of the registry, the size of the property clearly, in addition to the location of the property, the type of property, the status of the shares installed in it, the owners of the claims and the stakes in it, and the municipality to which the property records belong. The Department of Real Estate Records that Followed by this property, to see other additional terms, if any.

It is necessary to record all the modifications that have been made in the real estate registry belonging to the property if any changes have been already occurred within the statute of the property and record the serial number and date of the return to the property.

Note: The housing whose use has been converted from housing to commercial use; Therefore, it is essential that the purpose of using the property be registered on the real estate registry, and the phrase “commercial real estate registry” must be written on the real estate records that carry out commercial activities.


Real estate registry fees - Tapu Fees in Turkey:

The fees for transferring the title deed (Tapu) in Turkey entail 4% of the property value, regardless of the type of property, residential, commercial, or agricultural. Still, the costs are shared equally between the seller and the buyer in most cases. Therefore it is necessary to inquire from the owner of The original property or the construction company on whether it will share costs with the buyer or not because within Turkish law, there is no provision requiring the seller or the owner of the old property to pay half the costs of transferring ownership.

The legitimate and legal aspects of the (Tapu) title deed document in Turkey:
It would help if you considered hiring a lawyer specialized in the field of real estate, or a real estate brokerage company, to ensure that:

1- To verify the identity of the original owner of the property
2- Make sure that no financial problems are arising from the original owner of the property
3- Make sure the property's title deed is not shared in the form of shares to the owners; this situation often occurs if the property is inherited and distributed in the form of shares among the heirs.
4- Verify the value of the paid property; it was recorded on the title deed without any increase or decrease.