How do I find my property's real estate number, zone and section?

Also asked as: “How do I find my property's real estate number, zone and section in Lebanon?” · “Where is the plot number on a Lebanese title deed?” · “How do I find my family's land number in Lebanon?” · “What is the real estate zone of my property?”

What the number, zone and section are#

The Land Registry does not file property under people's names. Each property has its own folio under its survey number, and that folio holds all its rights and charges. Your title deed is a conforming copy of it^[1]. That is why every request starts with the number: to ask for a certificate you give the governorate, district, real estate zone, property number, section and block^[2,3].

In an apartment building divided into units, each unit gets a number added to the property number and has its own folio. Common areas are numbered 1 to 3 and private units from 4^[7]. The unit number is probably the "section" that request forms ask for, but no source we read says so directly. We also found no source that explains when a "block" applies. Ask the registry office or the notary to confirm both for your property.

Where to look on papers you already have#

Start with any title deed, old extract, sale contract or power of attorney that you or your family hold. The deed is a copy of the folio filed under the property number^[1]. A recent extract also describes the plot, its owners and their shares, and any mortgages, seizures or court actions^[3,4]. We found no source that shows where each detail sits on an old deed, a municipal paper or a tax receipt, so if you cannot read the Arabic, have a notary (kateb adel) or a lawyer go through it with you.

You will need these numbers again later. Lebanese missions ask for the property number and location, plus a copy of the deed or a Land Registry extract^[9,10,11] when you sign a power of attorney for a property. To sell unbuilt land you also need a municipal statement of contents and a location map^[12,13]. For getting the extract itself, see how to get a Land Registry extract and what it costs.

If you have no papers: search by the owner's name#

Kallas Law Firm describes a general property search using the person's full name, birth year and mother's name, helped by a copy of their ID. It lists every property registered to that person, with property number, district and number of shares^[4,5]. In April 2026 the Finance Minister said the registry's database covers all surveyed and numbered properties and allows searches by owner name or property number^[5]. Kallas gave about 10 days for the name search in October 2025^[4]. More in finding which properties a person owns.

Some things about this search are not published. No source we read says who may ask for it, at which office, for what fee, or whether the owner is told. Ask the Land Registry office for the area, or a Lebanese lawyer, before you rely on it. Older entries often lack details such as the owner's mother's name, because they were never fully entered in the electronic system^[5]. If your family's entry is old, bring every other detail you have.

Check the number against the ground#

A number tells you which folio to read, but it does not show you where the plot is. According to Kallas Law Firm's reading of Decree 188/1926, where the boundaries on the cadastral plan differ from those on the ground, the plan prevails^[1,14]. The Cadastre oversees the sworn surveyors and engineers who work with the registry^[8]. We found no source on how to order a cadastral plan or a survey, or what either costs. See getting a cadastral map or survey for a plot.

Land in an area that was never surveyed may have no registry number at all. A registry is opened in a cadastral region only after the delimitation and registration works there are finished and certified^[14,15]. Estimates of how much of Lebanon is surveyed differ: LIBC (2021) says 50% is delineated and surveyed, UN-Habitat/GLTN (2024) says 65%, and The Monthly Magazine (2015) says about 54% has final cadastral surveys^[8,15,16]. The Monthly Magazine also said in 2015 that unsurveyed land is recorded only in booklets kept by mukhtars^[16]. Annahar reported that Finance Ministry Circular 609/2026 limits the mukhtar's role for unsurveyed land to identification, and that the circular was contested as of 30 March 2026^[17][17,18]. Ask a lawyer what applies now. More in surveyed versus unsurveyed land.