AZE.US
Azerbaijan has more than 700,000 private homes without complete ownership documents, including about 500,000 in Baku and Absheron, but even 30 years of uninterrupted residence does not automatically guarantee a property extract.
Real estate expert Elnur Farzaliyev said in a television report that owners should first have the documents for both the house and the land reviewed. If the paperwork creates a legal basis for registration, there is no need to wait for decades.
A missing property extract and unauthorized construction are not always the same problem. Some owners have documents that may support registration. Other homes were built on land not intended for housing, without the required permits or in serious violation of planning and construction rules.
Thirty years of possession requires a court process
Azerbaijan’s Civil Code allows a person, under certain conditions, to seek registration of ownership over property that is absent from the state registry after holding it continuously and without dispute as their own for 30 years.
The passage of time alone is not enough. The owner must prove possession, complete the procedure for considering possible objections after an official notice, and obtain a court decision.
Farzaliyev also pointed to residential settlements dating back to the Soviet period. Even where the land designation does not prevent registration, some houses still lack ownership extracts.
Residents can apply to the relevant government agencies with the documents they have. If registration is refused, the decision may be challenged in an administrative court, Farzaliyev said.
Land status remains the main obstacle
Many undocumented homes stand on agricultural land or plots whose official purpose does not permit residential construction. Other homes are in zones where construction is prohibited.
Farzaliyev said properties in prohibited zones cannot receive ownership extracts unless that restriction is first removed. The legal status of the land therefore matters as much as the age of the house or the length of residence.
Vugar Oruj, chairman of the Azerbaijan Society of Appraisers, has argued that a property amnesty could resolve the position of thousands of families living in homes treated as illegal even though they receive utility services. The proposal remains dependent on a separate government decision and is not an adopted amnesty.
More than 237,000 property rights registered
Azerbaijan’s State Service on Property Issues reported 237,785 registrations of property rights in January-August 2026. Of those, 45,194 were initial registrations and 192,591 were repeat registrations.
The total included 51,504 registrations involving individual houses and country homes, 60,613 involving apartments and 116,495 involving land plots. Baku accounted for 69,688 registrations, with the remainder recorded in the regions.
Source: Vesti Baku.