Cuba Now Ready For Overseas Property Investors?

Cuba has made a huge step which could see international real estate investors owning a little piece of Cuba. The Cuban government has approved a law allowing foreign investors to lease land for up to 99 years. The move was made way back in October 2010 but has gone largely unnoticed.

Cuba is going through some huge changes many it seems being prompted by its struggles to fully employ its people. In September Raul Castro announced the state would lay off a half million employees by March, with perhaps another half million to follow.

“We have to erase forever the notion that Cuba is the only country in the world in which people can live without working,” he said at the time.

In November the government approved regulations for 178 newly privatised enterprises. The success of the black market is one of the signs that a limited private sector could help to reverse the country’s fortunes. The black market may become regulated which in effect rewards those that like to make a profit.

These measures do not mean the end of Castro socialism speaking to the Cuban Workers Federation in November, Raul insisted the economic measures were a native product of the island, not modelled on the pro-market reforms of any other country. He was adamant the reforms do not entail “renouncing even the smallest portion of the construction of socialism”.

“I think this action is very significant for several reasons,” says Antonio Zamora, a Miami lawyer who has researched foreign real estate investment in Cuba for more than 10 years. “First and foremost, it happened. It signals that the Raúl government is moving to open up the economy towards the Vietnam model. Fidel and his group are not opposed or cannot stop the moves.

Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero recently announced that the government will begin negotiations with foreign investors about construction of up to 16 golf courses and condominium communities.

Cuba’s success as a holiday destination is without doubt UK holiday makers for example are very positive about the Caribbean holiday destination.Will Cuba become an overseas property hotspot is another question. Cuba certainly ticks lots of the right boxes including accessibility, great climate and low real estate prices.

Author Nicholas Marr