Delay in Final Approval Certificate in Cyprus?

[cliffyamo]

Is there a delay in the issuing of the Final Approval certificates being provided on Properties in Cyprus alongside the already known delay in issuing of Final Title Deeds?

[Nigel Howarth]

Yes there are delays.

There is a considerable backlog of inspections that need to be carried out before the Certificate can be issued. And as the Certificate is a required before Title Deeds can be issued, it just adds to the delays. Here's an overview of the whole process:

Application for Town Planning Permit - This permit for the development defines what you can build, its usage, the access, the giving up of part of the property (usually land) for public use, the layout/appearance of a building, the density, height, coverage etc. Legal time required for a reply is 3 months, but the actual time, depending there are no problems, is 6-9 months.

Building Permit – Once a Planning Permit has been issued, an application is made for a building permit. This checks the structural stability of the building, the provision of public services, health & safety, the fire adequacy of the building, sewage and drainage etc. Although there is no legal time limit required for their issue, Building Permits should be received within 3 - 4 months. However, in some parts of Cyprus they can take 12 - 18 months.

Once the building is finished, the Municipality/District Office/Town Planning Department is invited to check that it has been built in accordance with the Town Planning & Building Permits issued for its construction (see above). The inspection should take place within 2 months, but it can take up to 4 - 6 months depending on the workload.

Cover Permits – Buildings are not always constructed in accordance with their Town Planning & Building Permits. Car ports and swimming pools, etc may have been added. In these situations, new applications have to be made for a revised Town Planning permit (Cover Permit) & a revised Building Permit (Cover Building Permit). Depending on the changes made to the original applications, these can take anything up to 12 months to process.

Once the Cover Permits have been issued, the Municipality/District Office/Town Planning Department is invited once again to check that everything is OK.

Certificate of Final Approval - Once the the Municipality/District Office/Town Planning Department has given the OK, a Certificate of Final approval must be sought from the Building Committee. The supervising engineer prepares a report and then submits it to the local Civil Engineer. The Civil Engineer then passes it to the Building Committee for their consideration. The report is the reviewed by the Building Committee, the minutes of the meeting are typed, corrected and approved; all the members of the Building Committee must sign the minutes of their meeting. Assuming that everything is OK, it takes 6 - 18 months to issue a Certificate of Final Approval. However, if there are problems, it can take significantly longer. If there are severe problems, a order can be issued requiring the demolition of the building (Demolition Order).

Division Permit - If you have bought a property that forms part of a development, a Division Permit is sought. This enables the authorities to sub-divide the properties so that a Title Deed may be issued for each of the properties comprising the development. Assuming there are no complications, this will take 6 months or thereabouts.

A Certificate of Approval for the Division Permit - Once a Division Permit has been issued, a Certificate of Approval of the Division Permit is required. This follows a similar procedure to that of the Certificate of Final Approval - through the Civil Engineer, Building Committee; typed, corrected and signed minutes, etc. Assuming there are no complications, this process will take a further 6 months.

Once a Certificate of Approval of the Division Permit has been issued, an application is made to the District Lands' Office for the registration of the property & issue of Title Deeds. Depending on difficulties & complications, this can take anything from 12 - 30 months.

If you have bought a property on a large development, the development may require an environmental study. This will delay matter by a further 6 - 8 months (although the legal time limit is 30 days).

The total time from start to completion is around 8 - 10 years. Once you've taken delivery of a property, you're looking at something like 5 - 7 years before completion.

Regards,