Deposit handed over but no sign of property yet

General questions & discussions on Cyprus property related matters
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DJCyprus
Posts: 1
Joined: 15 May 2011 16:47

Deposit handed over but no sign of property yet

Post by DJCyprus »

Hi All,

Great forum, thank you for such great information

I am new to this forum and have a worrying problem that I am hoping someone can advise me on.

Around 3 years ago, my wife and I looked into buying a property direct from a developer in Cyprus, the property was off plan, and was an excellent deal at the time. The developer was referred to me by a reputable investor in the UK. And I was in total trust with them.

Around 3 years ago, I paid a reservation fee which is standard. Around 2 and a half years ago, I was informed to pay my deposit required by the bank at the time to progress with the mortgage application. This was done and the mortgage was approved and all signed off. My financial situation has now changed (6 months ago – now self employed) so I will have to undergo a new mortgage application I predict. (I have done this twice already due to the length of time the development is taking to start). Thi

I went through the process of attaining power of attorney and all was well.

The problem that I am having now is that this property has not even been started (3 years later). They say that the banks will not allow the start of the building works and not allow draw downs of the customer’s mortgages. I am very sceptical that this development will ever come to fruition.

I have asked the developer for my deposit back but they are less than obliging. They say that they are obliged to offer me other property in replacement for the original property (they have offered me 2 but both are more expensive than the original and I am not happy with this situation). The problem is that I am not convinced that I want to buy anything at all in this market.

Is the developer in their legal rights to hold my deposit? On a development that has not been started for 3 years? (it was supposed to be finished 6 months ago.)

Is there any legal right I have to get that money back? In my opinion they have not delivered on what they agreed and I do not agree that I have to buy anything else. Potentially they could keep my money for years until the development is complete but this may never happen, it’s a catch 22.

I hope someone can enlighten me on what to do next.

Thank you once again
I look forward to your responses
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