Playing golf in the warm winter sunshine. Eating al fresco by your pool. Renting out your holiday home for a profit all summer and enjoying it in winter for yourself. You can do all this and more, however the election and Brexit works out. Read why most buyers in Cyprus don’t need to fret about Brexit…
Thursday’s general election will be one of the most important in British history. For anyone buying a property abroad, the last few years have thrown up many questions. Are these going to be answered in five days – for better or worse? There are several ways for British people to deal with Brexit, if it happens after the general election next week. Here we consider them.
Live in Cyprus before Brexit
The best way to guarantee your current rights is to move to Cyprus before Brexit. By establishing residency in Cyprus before the Brexit transition deadline of 31 December 2020, you should protect your EU rights. To do that, you’ll need to be living there in either your own property or a rented one, as well as fulfilling legal requirements.
First things first is to find a place to live. Don’t take too long as you should leave a good six month cushion before the deadline. Read our area guides to find the places to concentrate your search on.
The next stage is becoming officially resident in Cyprus. Within eight days, you must get an Alien Registration Certificate. Then, you can apply for full residency, You’ll need to go to the Civil Registry and Migration Department or the Police’s Aliens and Immigration Unit. You’ll either need proof of employment (a document of engagement of employment) or proof of sufficient funds to support yourself if you’re an ‘inactive citizen’. You’ll also need an ID document.
Move to Cyprus before Brexit to guarantee your rights.
A holiday home in Cyprus
Imagine swapping a dreary British winter for the sunny skies of Cyprus. That’s what hundreds of Britons who own a holiday home in Cyprus do every year – and then they make a good return letting it out over summer.
Although we don’t yet know exactly how Brexit will work out, we do know that other non-EU nationals such as from the USA or Australia can normally stay for up to six months without needing a visa. So limiting your time in Cyprus to the winter months should leave you in the clear.
The other benefit of staying in your UK home for at least six months is that you could be able to release some of the value of it to buy in Cyprus. Discover more about equity release here.
If you stay in your UK home for six months of the year you could be able to raise money for a purchase in Cyprus by using equity release. Find out more here.
Plus, with just 50,000 tourists on average in winter, compared to 350,000 in summer, you’ve practically got the island to yourself! You’ll see another side of Cyprus, too, as the countryside is much greener than during the baking hot summer.
It may be off season but it’s still sunny! Limassol, Cyprus
Buy the right sort of property in Cyprus
Cyprus has a ‘golden visa’ (residency by investment) scheme with one of the lowest entry barriers in Europe. If you purchase a non-resale property worth over €300,000, you can claim Cypriot permanent residency. If the property’s worth over €2,000,000, then you are eligible for citizenship. That extends to your family too.
The permanent residency is eligible not just for you, but your family too. Any children up to 25 years old, plus your spouse, can benefit – and it’s valid for life. To find out more about how residency in Cyprus works, no matter the value of your property, we can provide you with introductions to trusted lawyers.
For more information about buying a holiday home in Cyprus, don’t miss your free guide below. It’s full of all the information you need to know about the purchasing process, legalities, finance and more. And, if you do have any further questions, don’t hesitate to contact the Resource Centre on +44(0)20 7898 0549 or [email protected].
The Cyprus Buying Guide takes you through each stage of the property buying process, with practical recommendations from our experts who have been through the process themselves. The guide will help you to:
