Villa in the sun?

[MACCHIATO]

Hi all

Since residing in the paphos area for a long time now I have been looking in to the TRNC housing market - three bedroom villas with private pool at around £125,000 !!! No brainer...
Thoughts on this?

[Pantheman]

The illegally occupied areas are not discussed on this forum, I suggest if you want to deal in stolen goods you seek the appropriate forums to do so.

Good luck with risking your investment.

[Nigel Howarth]

European citizens who are thinking of buying or exploiting properties belonging to Greek Cypriots in the Turkish-occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus will have to think very hard before doing so, since their action constitutes a criminal offence for which they will have to face a European arrest warrant in whichever of the European Union countries they may be.

More specifically, in the event that a Cypriot citizen appeals to a Court of the Republic of Cyprus accusing a European citizen who lives in the Turkish-occupied areas of illegally possessing or exploiting his property, the Court may approve the issue of a warrant for his arrest so that he can be charged. In the impossibility of an arrest because the European defendant lives in the occupied areas or has already left for another European country, the Court will have the power to issue a European arrest warrant. Consequently, the defendant will be liable for an arrest in whichever one of the European Union countries he may find himself.

The Courts of the Republic of Cyprus have this power following the passing of a law on 17.3.2005 by the Cyprus House of Representatives with amends Article 281 of the Penal Code, as a result of which the crime of illegal occupation, cultivation, distribution or use of immovable property carries a prison sentence of up to two years or/and a fine of up to ₤5000. Before the approval of the amendment, the law provided, for this crime, a prison sentence of 6 months or/and a fine of ₤450, which did not allow for the issue of an arrest warrant to trespassers. The reason for this was that for a European arrest warrant to be issued, on the basis of the community law which also applies to Cyprus, the crime for which the warrant is issued must carry a prison sentence of at least one year.