Advice re South Cyprus and North Cyprus

Lara

Friends are thinking of go to North Cyprus for a week with the possibility of buying a villa there if they like it. They've never been but I thought there had a problem this year, politically(?).

We've never been to Cyprus so can't help them, think I'd prefer Crete anyway looking at the brochures, but I was just wondering if anyone can throw any light on this please.

Helen_from_yorkshire

There were some problems reported in the news earlier this year regarding people from the UK buying property/land in Northern Cyprus. The problems arose because the property/land may well have been owned by Greek Cypriots prior to 1974 (when the island was divided) and only recently have Greek Cypriots have been able to cross over into Northern Cyprus wanting to re-claim their land/property.

From a recent article in a newspaper, it is completely safe to purchase property/land in Southern Cyprus, all documents re title etc are in English and their Land Registry system is one of the best in the world.

Hope this helps.

sspyrou

Hi Lara,

I would definitely tell your friwnds not to buy in Northern Cyprus.

The issue is that the illegal invasion of Northern Cyprus has never been resloved and Northern Cyprus is not officially recognised by any country, as decreed by the UN.

This means that the people selling property in Nothern Cyprus is not owned by the sellers, it is owned by the original pre-1974 owner. There are som properties that are OK, those which were owned by Turkish-Cypriots. The majority were greek owned though. As long as the status quo is assumed i.e. the problem remains unresolved, your friends would be OK. If a resolution is found, as per two years ago but was rejected, they risk losing their purchase i.e. stolen property

The absolute best and safest place is Southern Cyprus (which is also better developed and equipped). There is no risk here of any legal issues. Once you buy, it is yours. Southern Cyprus is also a full member of the EU and thus you benefit from all normal rights you would have in say Spain or France e.g. free travel and movement of goods.

The only downside is that it is more expensive than the North, but then again it is an EU country and no legal issues. Southern Cyprus is still about 20% cheaper than Spain !

supermum4

Lara i went to cyprus for the first time in the easter of this year and my family and i loved it so much we are booked up to go back again this easter different part of cyprus this time. I would recommend cyprus to anyone for a great holiday location. greece is good aswell as the canaries but cyprus is the best in my oppinion. wish i could afford to buy a place out there i'd be gone tommorrow.

rchddap1

There have been some moves to attempt to resolve the Northern / Southern Cyprus problem, and this is only likely to intensify. Turkey wants to join the EU and the EU wants Turkey to sort the Cyprus issue out. So please be very careful if you look to buy in northern cyprus.

Snowboarder747

My parents bought a house in Cyprus 14 years ago and have now, since retiring, moved there permanently. They love it. The life is good, as is their social life. The prices are very reasonable in comparison to the UK ,if you stay away from the tourist traps. They say, the price of houses are starting to rocket, so if you are interested in buying don't delay too long. Final piece of advice, find yourself a good solicitor who speaks good English to undertake the sales transaction. Speak to ex-pats they'll point you in the right direction with regard to solicitors, NEVER use a solicitor recommended by the estate agent.

Don't buy in the North, only the South, as everyone else has suggested,

Hope this helps

Tommy_C_2

A member of my family has bought a Villa in northern Cyprus. They did lots and lots of research into it, and into the North & South situation.

They decided to buy in the North. Basically, Turkey will be joining the EU soon, and when they do, the house prices in Northern Cyprus will go right up very quickly. So now is a very good time to buy there, and could sell in a few years time to make a big profit.

My family got a new detached villa with own swimming pool for 155K inc taxes etc. Plus you can go around and select what furniture you want from stores and that was all included in the price. The house can also earn about £500 per week on average if rented out.

Hope this is of help.

roses

Tommy_C, I hope your family friend did their research and found out exactly who owned the property prior to 1974 otherwise they've got a shock coming their way!

Turkey won't join the EU until the Cyprus issue is resolved. The Cyprus issue will only be resolved once both the Greek and Turkish Cypriots are happy with the resolution ie the Greeks want their land back in the north as do the Turks in the south.