Untitled land, melkia, réquisition: what can actually be built
Out of every three villa projects that reach my office, there is almost always one where the land is not in the legal condition the family believes it to be. An acte adoulaire mistaken for a title deed, a réquisition (registration application) that has been open for fifteen years, a title still in the name of a grandfather who died in 1998: these are the situations that cost the most months and the most money, because they come to light after the drawings have been paid for. This guide explains, from the point of view of an architect who prepares permit applications, what each land status really allows you to file, finance and build.
Four land statuses, four very different situations
In Morocco, property ownership falls under several coexisting legal regimes. The land registration system, managed by the ANCFCC and its land registries, creates a definitive titre foncier (land title) that becomes unchallengeable once established. Alongside it, a large share of the land remains unregistered and changes hands through actes adoulaires, what families call the melkia or moulkia.
Between the two lies an intermediate status that many owners mistake for a title: the réquisition d'immatriculation, an application for registration. It is a request still being processed, not a consolidated right. Until the process is completed, the land has no title.
Here is how I read the situation when a client sends me their documents ahead of a first meeting.
| Status | Typical document | Permit application | Bank financing | Wait before you can file |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Definitive land title, single owner | Recent certificat de propriété (ownership certificate), land survey plan | Possible immediately | Standard | None |
| Land title held in indivision (joint undivided ownership) | Certificate naming several rights holders | Possible with written agreement from all | Difficult without a prior partition | However long the family agreement takes |
| Réquisition d'immatriculation | Réquisition certificate or receipt | Variable, often refused or conditional | Rare, sometimes with heavy guarantees | Several months to several years |
| Unregistered (melkia, acte adoulaire) | Acte adoulaire, certificate of possession | Tightly restricted, depends on the commune and zone | Practically impossible with a conventional loan | However long registration takes |
| Other regimes (collective, habous, state-owned) | Certificate from the managing body | Subject to specific authorisations | Case by case | Long and outside the ordinary procedure |
This table is not a uniform rule: each commune and each urban planning agency applies its own admissibility requirements. It shows the order of difficulty I observe on projects in Casablanca and Rabat.
Definitive land title: the only case where I start drawing straight away
A land title gives you a number (T/xxxxx, for example), a registry office of record, an official surface area and a survey plan. It is the only document that establishes boundaries enforceable against everyone.
What I always ask for: an ownership certificate less than three months old. Not a photocopy from 2015, not the certificate handed over at the time of purchase. The reason is simple: it is the entries recorded in the meantime that cause problems. A mortgage, a protective attachment, a pre-emption right, a right of way for a neighbour, a partial expropriation for road widening: all of this appears on a recent certificate and nowhere else.
The second document is the land survey plan and, for a plot in a subdivision, the approved subdivision plan with its associated regulations. A plot sold as 300 m² in a contract may be 287 m² on the survey plan. On a narrow plot, 13 m² change the siting and sometimes the number of usable floors.
The third is the note de renseignement urbanistique (planning information note) issued by the urban planning agency, which sets out the zoning, the floor area ratio, the height, the setbacks and the permitted use. A perfect title in an area not open to development produces no permit at all. I cover this step in detail in the guide on the building permit in Morocco.
With these three documents, I can start sketch designs knowing the work will not be thrown away. It is also the only configuration in which I will take on a full commission without reservations.
The réquisition d'immatriculation: the most misunderstood status
Filing a réquisition means asking the land registry to turn an unregistered property into a titled one. The procedure involves publication, a boundary survey on site in the presence of neighbours, then a period during which third parties may file an opposition.
This is the phase that catches families out. A réquisition is not an administrative queue: it is a public invitation to contest. A neighbour claiming a two-metre strip, a cousin left out of an inheritance, an earlier buyer holding a competing acte adoulaire: any of them can object. An opposition that is not settled amicably goes to court, and at that point we are no longer counting in months.
What I see in practice:
- Some communes accept an application based on a réquisition, others require the definitive title. This has to be checked at the counter, not assumed.
- When an application is accepted, it is often at the applicant's own risk. If the title is eventually issued with a different surface area or different boundaries, the permit obtained no longer matches the legal reality of the land.
- Banks rarely finance construction on land under réquisition, and when they do, the guarantees required make the operation unattractive.
- An old réquisition number is not a good sign. A réquisition that has been dormant for ten years is usually dormant for a reason.
My working position: I can carry out sketch and preliminary design studies while the application is being processed, because that does not depend on the land status. I will not build a construction schedule or a financing plan on a réquisition, and I say so before invoicing anything. To know the exact status of a réquisition, the only valid contact is the competent land registry, through the ANCFCC.
Melkia and acte adoulaire: what they are worth and what they are not
An acte adoulaire proves a transaction or a possession. It does not prove a geometry. That is the fundamental difference with a land title, and it explains most of the unpleasant surprises.
On the projects that come to me with a melkia, I always find the same issues:
- The surface area is declared, not measured. The gap between the area stated in the deed and the area measured by a licensed surveyor commonly runs from 5 to 20 %, sometimes more on inherited land that has been informally divided between brothers.
- Boundaries are described by neighbours: "bordered to the north by so-and-so's plot". The day so-and-so sells, the description means very little.
- Rights can overlap. Several successive deeds over the same ground, a partition never formalised, a customary right of way never written down.
Can you build? In some rural communes and for certain types of construction, simplified procedures exist and authorisations are issued on the basis of unregistered ownership deeds. But within an urban perimeter, and as soon as you want a villa, a loan, proper ten-year insurance cover or a clean resale, the absence of a title becomes a glass ceiling. Without a title, compliance is not straightforward, obtaining a permis d'habiter (occupancy permit) is uncomfortable, and any resale is systematically negotiated downwards.
My advice as a practitioner never changes: if you intend to invest several hundred thousand dirhams in a building, start the registration process before the drawings, not after. The cost of registration is marginal compared with the works budget, for which I give orders of magnitude in the guide on house construction prices in Morocco.
Indivision and splitting a title: the real issue for inheritances and Moroccans abroad
The most frequent case in my office: a land title in the name of a deceased parent, six heirs, two of them in France, one in Spain, and a brother still on site who "handles things". Nobody owns a specific piece. Everyone owns a share of the whole.
As long as this indivision exists, three things are impossible or risky: obtaining a permit without the written agreement of all co-owners, obtaining a loan against an undivided share, and building with peace of mind on "your" part, since that part does not legally exist.
What splitting a title involves
Splitting, or subdivision, means turning a parent title into several individual titles. In outline:
- Settling the succession: certificate of inheritance, registration of the heirs on the title with the land registry.
- Agreement on the partition between the heirs, or a court-ordered partition failing agreement.
- Survey and subdivision plan by a licensed land surveyor.
- Subdivision or development authorisation from the commune and the urban planning agency, depending on the size and the zone.
- Issue of the derived land titles by the ANCFCC.
Orders of magnitude for 2026, to be confirmed with the ANCFCC, the commune and the surveyor: expect a few thousand to a few tens of thousands of MAD (Moroccan dirhams) for the surveyor depending on the area and the number of plots, plus land registry fees calculated as a percentage of value. I deliberately quote no rate and no fee scale: they change, and only the competent land registry is authoritative.
For Moroccans living abroad
The thing that wastes the most time is not legal, it is logistical: the power of attorney. A power of attorney drawn up abroad must be properly executed, legalised or apostilled depending on the country, translated where necessary, and worded with powers broad enough to cover the succession, the subdivision, the permit application and the signing of works contracts. I have seen files stalled for three months because the power of attorney did not mention filing a building permit application.
What actually causes blockages
Here is the list of blocking factors I genuinely encounter, in order of frequency. None of them is theoretical.
- Expired ownership certificate. The counter rejects a document that is too old, and by the time you obtain a new one, something else has changed.
- Misspelled name. The civil status on the title does not match the current CIN. It is commonplace, and it is enough to stop an application.
- Deed area different from plan area. The design has been drawn on the wrong footprint and everything has to be redone.
- Mortgage never released after an old loan was repaid. The release was never registered.
- Heir who cannot be found, or who objects. A single refusal blocks everyone.
- Land affected by an alignment plan or by a road widening: the genuinely buildable area is smaller than the area purchased.
- Plot never detached from the parent title even though the seller promised it was "in progress".
- Non-buildable zone or non-compliant use: the land status is perfect, planning says no.
- Right of way in favour of a neighbour, preventing construction exactly where the family wanted the villa.
What all these cases have in common: they can be detected in half a day of document checking, and they cost between three months and three years when discovered at the filing stage.
What I ask for before drawing, and what I refuse to commit to
Before any sketch, I carry out a land and planning audit. It is a short assignment, charged at roughly 1,500 to 2,500 MAD as a 2026 order of magnitude, to be confirmed by quotation depending on location and complexity. It very regularly saves clients from spending tens of thousands of dirhams on a project that cannot be filed.
| Document | Who issues it | Why I require it |
|---|---|---|
| Recent ownership certificate | Land registry (ANCFCC) | Owner's identity, entries, encumbrances |
| Land survey plan or subdivision plan | Land registry, developer | Actual geometry, boundaries, access |
| Planning information note | Urban planning agency | Zoning, height, setbacks, use |
| Certificate of inheritance and co-owners' agreement | Adoul, notaire (notary) | Legal standing to file and sign |
| Legalised power of attorney (Moroccans abroad) | Consulate, foreign notary | Powers to file and to sign |
| Topographic survey | Licensed land surveyor | Levels, discrepancies in area, siting |
The cases I will not take on as a full commission until the status is clarified: a title in the name of a deceased person with the succession unsettled, a réquisition with a registered opposition, land sold as "currently being split" with no subdivision authorisation, a melkia within an urban perimeter with no registration process started. I can work on the concept, the volumes, the brief and the organisation of spaces, as described in the guide on villa plans in Morocco. What I will not do is promise a permit.
A useful reminder: in Morocco, a building permit application goes through the Rokhas platform, and the file must be prepared by an architect registered with the Ordre National des Architectes, in accordance with law 016-89. Land status determines whether the file is admissible at all, before any architectural consideration. Details of my services and their cost are on the fees page.
This guide is not legal advice. For the exact status of a title or a réquisition, contact the competent land registry and the ANCFCC. For a succession, a partition or an opposition, consult an adoul, a notaire or a lawyer. Amounts and procedures change: always check at source. Other project preparation topics are gathered in my guides.
What clients ask me most
Can you obtain a building permit on untitled land in Morocco?
It depends on the commune, the zone and the nature of the project. Some communes accept applications supported by an acte adoulaire, particularly in rural areas, while others require a definitive land title. The only reliable answer comes from the counter of the commune concerned, before committing to any drawings. When in doubt, I take the view that untitled land within an urban perimeter should be registered first.
Will a bank finance construction on land under réquisition?
Rarely. A property loan relies on a mortgage guarantee, and a mortgage is registered against a land title. As long as the title does not exist, the bank has no conventional security. Some banks structure files with other forms of security, but the conditions are far heavier. Check with your bank before signing a preliminary sale agreement, not after.
How long does land registration take?
No timescale can be quoted seriously. A simple, uncontested file is processed within a number of months that varies with the registry and the local workload. A file with an opposition goes to court and can take several years. Ask the land registry directly about the progress of your réquisition: that is the only usable information.
How does a melkia compare with a land title?
A melkia attests to ownership or possession, but it does not establish enforceable boundaries or a certified surface area. A land title, by contrast, is definitive and unchallengeable once established. In practice, land held under a melkia sells for less, is hard to finance and comes with more constraints to build on. It is a real asset, but a less liquid one.
I live abroad and my brothers are in Morocco: how can I move forward without travelling back?
Through a power of attorney drawn up abroad, legalised or apostilled depending on the country, translated where necessary, and above all worded with sufficiently broad powers: succession, partition, subdivision, filing of the building permit application, signing of works contracts. The most frequent cause of blockage I see is not the absence of a power of attorney, it is a power of attorney that is too narrow.
Does the permis d'habiter replace the land title?
No. The permis d'habiter certifies that the building complies with the permit issued and is fit for occupation. It creates no ownership right over the land and does not remove the need for registration. Many families believe it regularises their land situation: all it does is certify the condition of the building.
Have your land status checked before commissioning any drawings
Send me the ownership certificate or the deed you hold, the location of the land and what you want to build on it. I will tell you what can be filed as things stand, what needs to be clarified first, and where to start. Write to me through the contact page or call +212 661 25 78 84.
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