Hi,

I purchased a flat in Paphos which was completed in April 2007, and have recently read your web page with advice not to use a solicitor recommended by the developer, which I did. I have given her Power of Attorney to set up a bank account and deal with any problems in my absence. Accounts and direct debits have been set up now and I currently have a friend permanently staying at the flat. Please let me know if I should request to have this POA revoked or leave things as they are.

The development is suffering damp problems running along the perimiter wall and outer walls of all ground floor flats and mine happens to be one. Could you please advise me whether the developer had a obligation to do a damp proof course? I feel he has because he has been applying paint each year which is no long term solution.

Your guidance would be very much appreciated.

Thanking you, Sonia

Hi Sonia and welcome to the property forum.

Providing you are happy with the work your lawyer is undertaking on your behalf, there is no need to cancel the arrangement.

Rising damp is probably the most common problem in Cyprus. Concrete acts like a wick drawing moisture out of the ground and into the floors and walls of houses and apartments. Sadly, building regulations do not require a damp proof course to be used and it is up to the individual developers whether they damp proof their properties properly or not.

Only a handful of developers actually build properties. Many contract the work to registered building contractors who build to a fixed price determined by the developer. Operating on a slim margin, contractors cut corners to maximise their profit - and unfortunately there is no independent inspection of properties as they are being constructed to ensure everything is done according to plan/regulations.

Rising damp is not an easy problem to fix. The only real solution is to prevent moisture entering the concrete. This usually requires the foundations to be exposed in dry weather and sealed. Also, the skirt around the building needs to slope away from the building so that water runs away and doesn't collect at the base of the walls.

The building contractor should have laid a damp-proofing polyethylene sheet under the floor slab. If he hasn't, you'll eventually get rising damp at the base of the internal walls and this is impossible to cure without major work.

(A friend of mine has been living in his house for many years and has suffered with rising damp for a long time. Last year, after breaking a couple of tiles, he took up his small patio to find that there was nothing but sand under them).

Regards,

Dear Nigel,

Thank you for your detailed advice on this problem, even though it wasn't what I really wanted to hear.
I will feed this information back to our residents for their information also.

Kind regards
Sonia

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