Following the applicable regulations on management and use of co-owned buildings and due to the absence of specific regulations on registration of private units of co-owned buildings constructed before 1997, the Royal Government of Cambodia through the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction (“MLMUPC”) issued a new Prakas No. 050 dated 19 July 2024 on the Procedures and Formalities for Registration of Private Units of Co-Owned Buildings Constructed Before 19 December 1997 (“Prakas 050”). This Prakas aimed to ensure protection of legal rights of private unit owners of co-owned buildings constructed before 1997 and sets out procedure and formalities to register those private units.
Please note that the Prakas 050 specifically applies to any private units of co-owned buildings that were constructed before 19 December 1997 only (“Scope of Application”). However, for any private units of co-owned buildings that were constructed after this Scope of Application date, other applicable regulations on management and use of co-owned buildings and land registration system remain applicable.
Co-owned building refers to a building or construction where multiple owners are living. Co-owned buildings have some parts being the exclusive ownership of each co-owner called “private unit” and some other parts are the common space for the common use of all co-owners, called “common areas”. In other words, it refers to a building or a group of buildings on a single land plot, which is divided to units that can be individually owed. Types of co-owned buildings include villas, semi-villages, apartments with multiple flats and stories linked to each other, condominiums, and other types of houses whose structures have linked each other.
Application Dossier Submission
The procedure is more straightforward compared to registration of other types of immovable properties. Unlike other co-owned buildings that were constructed after the Scop of Application date, the Prakas 050 does not require submission of additional documents required by the previous regulations, such as construction related permits, architectural drawings and internal rules of the co-owned building.
Even that said, the Prakas 050 does not clearly stipulate the circumstances or criteria the MLMUPC is entitled to reject the application/approval. In practice, more detailed required documents/information would be required by the MLMUPC to complete their review process.
Registration Procedure
Prakas 050 also makes clear that the procedures for land systematic registration under Sub-Decree No. 46 dated 31 May 2002 and its subsequent Sub Decrees will apply the same to the private units’ registration under this Scope of Application. However, for private units of co-owned buildings constructed before the Scope of Application date but that have not been registered through the land systematic registration process, they may be registered based on additional sporadic registration process in accordance with their respective applicable regulations.
This mechanism allows individual owners to register their private units independently without requiring all owners of the co-owned building to register all units simultaneously.
The owners of the private units of the co-owned building must provide the original current certificates of title or other proof of legal possession or ownership of their private units to the cadastral administration to exchange them for new certificates of title for such private units.
For more information regarding general real estate matters, please consult our Real Estate Investment Guide, downloadable from the link here: Real Estate Investment Guide Cambodia – 2023 – DFDL
The information provided here is for information purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice. Legal advice should be obtained from qualified legal counsel for all specific situations.
