Land and co-owned building registration moves into the field in Khan 7 Makara

A long-standing gap in Phnom Penh's registration drive is being addressed

The programme was formally declared on 2 July 2026, and by early August municipal information described cadastral teams working on land and co-owned buildings in Khan 7 Makara itself. That moves the story beyond an announcement: the district is now in the implementation stage.

The location matters because 7 Makara has a large stock of older urban housing where several households may occupy separate floors or units within the same building footprint. A 2025 report on Phnom Penh's wider land survey described 7 Makara as the only one of the capital's 14 districts that had not yet gone through systematic registration on the same basis as the others.

The August industry report linked the new drive particularly to older flat-style and co-owned residential buildings, including structures dating from before 1979 and before 19 December 1997. Those properties can require more than a simple parcel survey because cadastral officers have to reconcile physical occupation, building layout and ownership records.

For practical context, see Cambodia law and taxes. This development also connects with Phnom Penh Steps Up Checks on Foreign Resident Registration.

A district-wide programme does not prove a unit already has title

For an owner or buyer, the practical question is the status of the specific building and apartment. Field activity in the neighbourhood does not by itself show that a private unit has been identified, its boundaries accepted, conflicting claims resolved or a certificate issued.

This matters in a sale. A buyer should be able to establish what has actually happened to the property: whether measurements are complete, whether the apartment is recorded as a separate private unit, what certificate exists and whose name appears in the registration. Until those points are clear, the 7 Makara campaign should be treated as a process affecting the area, not as proof of title for every home within it.

The industry report said field surveys and data collection were intended to be completed by the end of 2026, with formal co-ownership certificates expected to begin following in 2027. Those are programme targets, not a guaranteed timetable for an individual building.

Foreign ownership rules still apply unit by unit

Cambodia's 24 May 2010 law allows legally qualified foreigners to own private units in co-owned buildings from the first floor above ground level upward. It does not give a foreign unit owner ownership of the underlying land, and transfers of special co-ownership must be registered under the applicable legal procedures.

For older property in 7 Makara, the current registration drive could therefore remove an important layer of uncertainty where rights have historically been difficult to document. It does not, however, make every old flat automatically eligible for registration in a foreign buyer's name. The building's legal status, the location of the unit within it and the actual cadastral record still need to be checked for that specific property.