Forty-nine families yesterday protested outside the office of development firm Borey Moha Sethey in the capital’s Russey Keo district to demand land titles that they say they have been owed for more than two years.

Veng Kong, a home buyer in the district’s Russey Keo commune, said the company has repeatedly delayed issuing the titles.

“We have paid all the money owed to the company, totalling $140,000 for my house, but the company hasn’t given me my land title,” he said.

Heng Ngoun, another buyer, said owners need their land titles as legal proof that they own the houses, a necessity to qualify for bank loans to be able to open up businesses.

“We want to [open a] . . . business, but it is difficult, because we still don’t have a land title,” he said. “The company promised to give us [the land titles] when we paid for our houses, but until now, it hasn’t issued them.”

He said the homeowners had been patient, but couldn’t wait any longer and wanted a solution. Both owners bought their homes in 2014.

Neb Sovanarith, owner of Borey Moha Sethey, maintained the company was not cheating the homeowners but needed time to process the titles for all the families at once.

“We recognise that the land titles are late,” he said.

Officials at the Ministry of Land Management could not be reached for comment.