What is ASHK, the agency behind every Albanian property deal? (2026)

ASHK is a public legal person under the Prime Minister, created by Law 111/2018 and self-financed from its own fees. It keeps the cadastre: the kartela (one record card per property) and the cadastral map, organised by cadastral zones. Every transfer of ownership in Albania ends at ASHK, because a sale is valid only as a notarial act registered there.

The merger matters in practice. Before 2019 a buyer dealt with the property registry for the title, with ALUIZNI for a legalisation file and with a third body for former state property; since the merger one agency answers all three questions, under one property number.

Every check that protects a buyer is a question to the ASHK register. Whether the seller is the registered owner is Section B of the kartela; whether a hypothec, a seizure or the statutory mortgage of a legalised home blocks the sale is Sections C and D; whether an older or informal building is legal is its legalisation status in the same register.

You rarely stand in an ASHK office yourself: extracts are ordered through e-Albania, and at the deal the notary verifies the register and files the deed for registration. You become the owner when the register says so, not when you pay. The full sequence of checks is on our verification checklist page.

The pre-purchase set is ordered online through e-Albania, by the owner or through your lawyer, and arrives in days:

• Ownership certificate: 3,000 lek.
• Copy of the kartela: 1,500 lek.
• Online check of the legal status: 1,000 lek.

Together 5,500 lek, about 60 euro - the cheapest insurance in the whole purchase. Registering the sale contract afterwards costs 5,000 lek, which the notary files for you after the deed.