Government Gets Tough On Foreign Ownership Laws

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160627 - b2b - news - Government Gets Tough On Foreign Ownership Laws

Phnom Penh will stop allowing the processing of land titles under a foreigner’s name, as a result of the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction’s (MLMUPC) decision to enforce long-standing soft title ownership regulations.

Despite it being a direct contradiction of the 2010 law on providing foreigners with ownership rights in private units of co-owned buildings, many khans—including Daun Penh—have been allowing foreigners to possess soft titles on properties.

The MLMUPC issued a notification letter on May 25 instructing chiefs of all 12 khans in Phnom Penh City that from June 13 onwards, the transfer of possessory rights to a foreigner is only legal if the property subject to the transfer is on or above the first floor; likewise, the property being transferred must exist in a co-owned building constructed with the proper construction permit issued by the relevant authority.

Following this notification, Khan Daun Penh officials announced in early June that the sangkat will no longer transfer soft titles into a foreigner’s name.

Grant Fitzgerald, general manager at International Property Services (IPS) Cambodia, said that “these laws have always been there, they just now enforcing them across the board.”

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