Completing your property purchase in Cyprus

One you’ve made an offer on a property in Cyprus and the seller has accepted your bid, your lawyer will draft a Contract of Sale and complete the necessary due diligence.

Here we outline how that happens and what happens next.

Drafting and finalising the Sales Agreement

Provided no issues arise from the legal due diligence, your lawyer will draft a Contract of Sale. In the case of a new development where deeds won’t be issued until the property is completed, the Contract of Sale should reflect that the property is protected until a separate title deed is issued.

Next, they will ensure it is approved by all parties in the transaction. This will need to be stamped and registered by the Land Registry Office. The reason for this is two-fold. Firstly, it prevents the seller from selling the property to anyone else. Secondly, it prevents them from using the property as collateral to gain a mortgage or loan. The Specific Performance Law, as it is known, also protects the buyer before the deeds are formalised in their name.

At the same time, you will need to transfer a proportion of the agreed property price, usually 10% of the sales price for a resale property or 20% to 30% for new builds. You can also organise for the utilities to be connected this stage if necessary.

During this time, it is vital to protect your budget from currency movements. If you do not, you could find that adverse exchange rate changes leave the property costing you thousands more when you come to complete. Speak to international property transaction specialist Smart Currency Exchange about this

For non-EU citizens, your lawyer will issue a request to Cyprus’s Council of Ministers to approve your property acquisition. This is essentially a formality and should not delay your purchase.

They will also prepare an application for the reduced VAT rate of 5%. When this is approved, you will transfer the final balance of the sales price. All this is usually completed within one month.

Obtaining title deeds

The final stage involves obtaining the title deeds from the Regional Land Chamber in the presence of the seller and buyer. You must obtain a receipt proving the registration fee and registration of property tax have been paid.

During this final stage, the title deeds transfer fee will have to be paid (usually not expensive). Once in receipt of them, you are the owner of the property. You can now apply to the likes of the water and electricity authorities to transfer the utilities into your name.

You may be able to organise power of attorney if you are unable to be present to sign the final deed. You can grant power of attorney to a trusted friend or your lawyer to sign on your behalf. It’s important to assign power of attorney only for the property transactions and not to all of your legal affairs in Cyprus.

Whether you use power of attorney or are present yourself, you will need to present a valid passport and your tax registry number.