New law looks to end problems buying property in Cyprus

After months of discussion and wrangling, the Parliament in Cyprus has finally approved a new law to help tackle the country’s well-publicised title deed problems.  The legal framework aimed at putting an end to the embarrassing problems is now complete and it is hoped that it will encourage more people to buy property in Cyprus.

New law aims to shore up Cyprus property market

The Immovable Property Sales (Specific Performance) Law was unanimously approved by MPs and it gives land contracts power over any mortgages owed to the banks by the property’s seller.

Tens of thousands of local and foreign property buyers across Cyprus remain without Title Deeds to their properties after the vendors failed to settle their debts to their respective banks.  The fact that rights to the properties were automatically transferred to the bank left many buyers exposed, even if they had settled their debt on the property.

Increased buyer protection for property in Cyprus

The aim of the new legislation is to legalise real estate property that lacks a Title Deed due to town-planning or building irregularities.  There are around 130,000 title deeds currently pending in Cyprus, mainly due to developers failing to pay mortgages they secured on properties that buyers have already paid for.

The law means that buyers will have the ability to pay the amount they owe on their property straight to the bank.  In addition, land contracts will now have precedence over any mortgage owed by a third person on the property.

Presenting the two bills before the vote, Chairman of the House Legal Affairs Committee, DISY’s Ionas Nicolaou said the laws corresponded to society’s demand for better protection of buyers’ rights.

“The new law will allow the buyer to have Title Deeds, independent of whether the seller owes money on that property.  It is important as it will help reactivate the property market in Cyprus.”