How do I get my own title deed for an apartment in a new building in Lebanon?

Also asked as: “How do I get a separate title deed for my apartment in Lebanon?” · “What is ifraz for an apartment in a new building?” · “My building is not divided: how do I register my flat?” · “إفراز شقة في السجل العقاري”

Why a new flat has no deed of its own yet#

The Land Registry (السجل العقاري) keeps one real folio per property, under its survey number. The owners' title deed is a copy of that folio^[2]. A new building stands on a plot with one folio, and having several storeys does not split it into flats. The owner of the whole built property has to apply to the registry to divide it into units, that decision is the owner's, and each unit then gets its own complementary folio^[1].

The law's Arabic word for this division is إفراز, ifraz^[3]. Until it happens, the register knows only shares in the whole plot. Shares are undivided fractions of the property, and no real right can be registered on a specific part until that part has its own folio^[2,5,8][2]. You may see such flats described as "unpartitioned" (غير مفرز). We found no source that defines the term, so ask the notary to tell you in writing exactly what would be registered in your name.

What has to happen before the building can be divided#

The construction must comply with the building laws, or its parts cannot be registered as separate units^[1]. The registry and survey departments may not finally subdivide a building unless the owner shows an occupancy permit plus electricity and water connection certificates^[3]. Units subdivided under Law 539/1996 are an exception.

That puts the occupancy permit first. Once the building is complete, facades included, the owner applies to the technical administration with as-built plans registered with the Order of Engineers^[3]. The permit is given only after all fees and fines for any extra area built without permit are paid, and it must be granted or refused within one month of the application. A provisional permit lets people connect utilities and live in the flat. It does not allow final subdivision, sale or final registration^[9]. More in provisional and final occupancy permits.

Where the building has three or more units^[1], regulations certified by a notary must be deposited. They list each unit with its floor as named in the building permit, include a plan and management rules, and give each unit's share in the common areas out of 1,000.

Violations can block all of this. A violation goes on the folio only when the municipality or the technical administration asks for it, so a clean extract does not prove there is none^[3]. The municipality gives no clearance until fines for unpermitted work are paid and the violation is settled. We found no source on how a violation is settled so that division can go ahead. Ask the municipality and a lawyer, and read how to check for building violations.

What your own deed shows, and what it costs#

Your unit gets a number added to the plot's property number, with its own folio: common areas 1 to 3; units from 4^[1]. Each unit's ownership counts as 2,400 parts per unit, so 2,400 shares on your deed means the whole flat, not the whole building. Under Legislative Decree 88/1983, stairs, lifts and top roofs are common parts by nature, though the building's own regulations may allocate parts differently. You can check them at the Land Registry^[10,11]. Your share in the common parts goes with the flat and cannot be sold or mortgaged separately.

The fee on the application to place the building under the condominium regime is 1%^[1]. Our sources do not say what value it is charged on, who pays it, or whether later budget laws changed it. The fee for the new deed itself is disputed. Kallas Law Firm's May 2026 calculator lists LBP 150,000 for a deed issued after a subdivision, while the consolidated Art. 81 of Law 10/2022, as amended by decree 56/2025, lists LBP 300,000 for most flat items^[12][12,13]. At about LBP 89,500 to the dollar (Kallas Law Firm, May 2026), each item comes to a few US dollars either way.

Buying the flat carries the Land Registry sale fee: 3% of the value for Lebanese buyers, 5% for non-Lebanese^[14]. Kallas Law Firm says these rates were still in force in May 2026^[12]. See registration fees.

If you pay before your flat has its own folio#

Until your purchase is registered, you have a personal claim against the seller, not ownership^[4,5]. Kallas Law Firm says the property stays in the seller's name in the meantime, exposed to any sale, mortgage or attachment entered before yours^[4]. Libnanews reported in August 2026 that when the developer Sayfco went bankrupt in 2018, about 600 buyers were exposed because bank mortgages on the projects blocked delivery of their titles. Some settlement proposals asked them for an extra USD 10,000 to lift the mortgages and register^[15].

Forgery is the other risk. The Internal Security Forces (ISF) reported in June 2026 that the deed of a property in Halat (Jbeil) had been forged with a fake ID in the real owner's name. The property was transferred to the forger and then to a buyer, though the owner had never sold it^[16]. The buyer learned the deed was invalid only when he tried to register, after he had paid. The ISF report does not say whether an official extract taken before payment would have shown the forgery.

A buyer under an unregistered contract can sue the seller, or the seller's heirs, to force registration^[2,17]. A promise of sale can be provisionally inscribed on the folio to keep your rank against later sales and mortgages^[4,18]. Kallas Law Firm says an annotation of this kind does not transfer ownership: your right stays personal, and subject to the ten-year limitation, until final registration. How this applies to a flat with no folio of its own is a question for a lawyer^[19]. UN-Habitat says a buyer who does not register within ten years loses the right to register the transfer, and the Norwegian Refugee Council also gives a ten-year limit^[5,20]. More in a sale contract with nothing registered.

We found no source on what a buyer can do if the developer never divides the building. When co-owners holding more than half of the shares^[1,21] of a building that cannot be divided in kind ask for it, the court must place the building under the condominium regime. Nobody we read says whether a buyer of an unregistered flat can use this route, so take that question to a property lawyer.