Cyprus Property Forum for Buyers, Sellers & Investors

Good evening all.

We previously owned an apartment and are thinking of purchasing again. We've seen a property that we like and the current owner has the title deeds. We just wondered post Brexit if there are any new obstacles that we should be aware of before doing so please? (I refer to the title deeds fiasco)

We will be purchasing from the UK, due to the pandemic, and it would just be a holiday home for now.

Any advice on any new hidden gems, ie: new taxes, registration etc, is always welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Good morning susiewong and welcome to the forum

I would be very wary of a buying a property unseen as it may have problems. I suggest you instruct a lawyer on the list provided by the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office to act on your behalf. Many lawyers will know a surveyor who can check the apartment to see if there are any problems. (See my checklist.)

It's also vital that the lawyer checks the deed to ensure there are no charges against the apartment that need to be paid before you can own it - and they also need to check that the present owner is up-to-date with their communal fee payments.

As UK is no longer an EU member state you will need permission from the Council of Ministers to own the property. I explained the changes in a recent article - Buying property in Cyprus and visiting post Brexit.

A couple of years ago Cyprus reduced property transfer fees by 50% for those who do not pay VAT on their purchase (that will apply to you), Immovable Property Tax paid to the Tax Department has been cancelled. That's about it (I think.)

If everything's OK it should take no more than a year to get Council of Minister's permission and then you can get the all-important Title Deed.

Regards

Just adding to what Nigel said, you can still purchase the property on a contract with the title to be issued after the permission of the CoM has been sought. This is a formality and the application is done by your lawyer at the same time as you buy the property.

Thanks both for your replies.

The block is one we've known well, so no structural issues.

Pantheman, you answered my next question as I was concerned about paying for the apartment and then having to wait to see if we could actually get the deeds, which is not a position anyone would wish to be in again.

So basically we get the apartment checked for outstanding money issues, purchase the apartment, have a contract made up and then the deeds are issued as a matter of course, rather than a maybe issued?

Trust this is correct as we don't want to fall foul of anything second time around.

Thank you.

If the property already has title deeds issued, not going to be issued but already in existence then yes they can get transferred to you once the permission has been had. Before Brexit this would not have been a problem, unfortunately non-EU and third country nationals can only have a single title to their name after permission.

Good luck.

susiewong wrote: 04 Feb 2021 10:34Pantheman, you answered my next question as I was concerned about paying for the apartment and then having to wait to see if we could actually get the deeds, which is not a position anyone would wish to be in again.

Although Council of Ministers permission is granted in virtually all cases, you will need a clause in their contract of sale stipulating what will happen in the unlikely event that Council of Ministers permission is refused.

(We bought in 1992 and there was a clause in our contract that said "Should the Council of Ministers refuse permission to the purchasers to acquire the site, they shall be entitled to indicate to the vendors any other person to whom the vendors shall be obliged to transfer the site and to enter into any any contract with the new purchaser with similar terms as the present agreement without any contestation.")

Regards,