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Dec 05, 2011:
After nearly a month since MPs voted unanimously to abolish/reduce Property Transfer Fees for a period of six months, the amended law has finally been published in the Cyprus Government Gazette.
After a long delay, changes to the law designed to help stimulate sales of new property by abolishing and reducing Property Transfer Fees for a period of six months have finally been agreed and published.
The changes came into effect on Friday 2nd December and will remain in force for a period of six months. They apply only to the first sale of a property, where the contract is dated and deposited within the six month window. Specifically:
For those who pay VAT on their house purchase, no transfer fees are payable.
For those who do not pay VAT on their purchase, property transfer fees are reduced by 50%.
There are provisions in the law that prevent its abuse, for example, by buyers withdrawing contracts of sale deposited at the Land Registry for Specific Performance, changing their dates and then re-depositing them.
by: Nigel Howarth
Source: Cyprus Property News
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Nov 02, 2011:
Pursuant to the provisions of the bill that criminalizes violations of environmental pollution would punish those who pollute the environment and quality of life. Provides for imprisonment up to 3 years or fine up to ¤ 70 thousand for trafficking of protected species or production, importation or marketing of substances that deplete the ozone layer.
The bill also provided for imprisonment up to eight years or a fine up to ¤ 250 thousand to those who reject, transmit or introduce contaminants into the environment, operating unit with hazardous substances and contribute to the extinction of protected species of wild flora or fauna.
After the session the President of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal and Member of the Democratic Rally, Nicholas Jonas, said that the Commissioners do not agree with the exceptions of bodies of state power by law including semi-government bodies and local authorities.
by Eleftheria Paizanou
Source: StockWatch
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Oct 17, 2011:
(follows in Greek)
The Republic of Cyprus introduces new criteria for foreign millionaires who want to acquire the Cypriot citizenship. An essential prerequisite is the existence of millions ....
The new criteria considered by the Cabinet require some stable conditions ... and some alternatives.
The stationary conditions require for the applicant to to be over thirty, with no criminal record, permanent home ownership in Cyprus with a value greater than one million.
From here and beyond, there are five criteria by which the businessman must satisfy:
a. Have over € 10 million in direct investments, which include, inter alia, property markets, corporations / companies, shares, securities issued and registered in Cyprus.
b. To have established in Cyprus company/companies controlled by the same aggregate turnover of at least € 10 million a year on average over the last three years preceding application, or at least 1 / 3 of the the applicant's employees to be Cypriots.
c. To have personal deposits in Cypriot banks or deposits by private companies or the trustee (who are shareholders themselves) in Cyprus, at least € 15 million. In such case, the money must remain tied to a bank in Cyprus for at least five years. As indicated in case of periodic checks show that the condition is violated, then, naturalization can be revoked.
d. Have a combination of the above, assets amounting to € 15 million.
e. To have made up a company or companies whose management is in Cyprus and the last three years preceding application, have paid the Cypriot economy in the form of either paying the income tax / VAT or pay for the venture services (lawyers, accountants, auditors, bank and other) at least € 500.000 average year.
The Interior Minister, Neoclis Sylikiotis said there are cases in regulations adopted by the previous government that one can get citizenship under special circumstances exceptionally, as people invest in Cyprus and are here for years and have permanent residence permit.
Under this scheme, he said, around 75 to 80 people have received citizenship and, as he explained, this is a policy that will continue after the Cabinet has extended the conditions to attract others who live and invest here in Cyprus since many years.
via Sigmalive
http://www.sigmalive.com/inbusiness/news/financials/428754
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Oct 03, 2011:
Visas for Non EU citizens Purchasing Property in Cyprus
Buying your Dream Home in Cyprus is the Key to EU Residency
Enjoy Permanent Residency in an EU country when you buy your dream home in Cyprus. Fulfilling your dream of an EU lifestyle has just been made possible by the Cyprus Government, which has recently announced that non-EU citizens making a minimum investment of € 300,000 in property on the island, subject to certain requirements, will be granted permanent residency through a special immigration visa. Quite simply, this means you will be able to enjoy the same advantages as everyone else in Cyprus without having to apply for any permits or renewals.
Cyprus is already renowned as the perfect place to live with its almost year-round sunshine, a relaxed, stress-free lifestyle and a very low crime rate. Cyprus offers an ideal family environment, with your children able to benefit from excellent schools and universities, while healthcare and infrastructure are all state-of-the-art. The island also enjoys a favourable reputation as in International business centre & gateway to the EU. Many international companies operate offices in Cyprus. Opening a company couldn’t be easier with low personal & business taxation plus the added benefit of tax treaties with numerous other countries.
BASIC INFORMATION
1. A Pink Slip is issued by the Immigration Office once someone has provided all the documentation required namely:-
Bank Statements
Proof of Income
Title Deeds or Contract for property that is owned in Cyprus
Details of all dependants
Birth Certificates
Marriage Certificate
2. With regard to a Visa – there are no multiple visas. People can come to Cyprus for a period of 90 days to look for property.
IN MORE DETAIL
For the issuing of a pink slip it does not matter what the value of the property is. The following are the requirements in order to issue the pink slip.
- TEMPORARY RESIDENCE PERMIT (PINK SLIP) OF NON EU passport holder:
Documents required:
- Copy of sale agreement or rental agreement or title deed
- Money deposited in the bank and proof from where it came from (CY and abroad, if any, of approx. Euro 100.000).
- Passports plus copy first page and last entry stamp
- Pension certificates + translation + copy (if any) and any other source of income as interest, rental income, other investments. What is actually needed here is to show steady and regular income, adequate for the maintenance of the applicant and his family from external sources.
- Bank guarantee for 24 months € 515 (+ copy)
- Marriage certificate + translation (+copy) apostille (Russians exempted)
- Birth certificate for children + translation + copy apostille (Russians exempted)
- 4 photos first issue / 1 photo renewal
- Medical Insurance automatically renewable.
This permit can be renewed every year under the same terms.
Holders of such temporary residence permit should not live abroad for a continuous period of 90 days and should live in Cyprus for a total period of 6 months.
The Cyprus Minister of Interior said that Non EU citizen that buy property in Cyprus more than about € 350,000 can be given a permanent residence permit under category F, but this is not strict. Non EU citizens that bought property of less than € 350.000 can also apply for the issuing of a permanent residence permit. The requirements for Category F are the following:
APPLICATION FOR PERMIT UNDER CATEGORY F OF REGULATION 5 OF THE ALIENS AND IMMIGRATION REGULATIONS CAP105
In case of wealthy Non EU citizens that can be given a permanent residence permit under category F. The requirements are enough money in the bank (€ 250.000), business activities, ownership of companies, shares etc.)
The requested documents are as follows:
a) Copies of Alien Registration Certificates (wife & dependants also)
b) Copies of Temporary residence permits (wife & dependants also)
c) Passport copies (wife & dependants also) valid for at least 2 years
d) Certificate of marriage, translation, apostille (Russians are exempted)
e) Birth certificates (legalized translation) of children, apostille (Russians are exempted)
f) Education Degree, diplomas etc Original + translation + apostille (Russians exempted)
g) Immovable property owned in Cyprus if any (title deeds or contract of sale)
h) Medical insurance (wife & dependants also) automatically renewable
i) Recent bank statements current and fixed (at least € 250.000
j) Documents of Companies owned by the applicant
k) Particulars of income and source from which derived.
l) 4 recent photos
m) CV
n) Certificate of criminal record + translation + apostille (Russians exempted)
As regards to the multiple visa, this has nothing to do with the value of the property in Cyprus as such. This is issued in the embassy or Consulate in Country the Non EU citizen lives and is under regulations that were imposed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus. The Non EU citizen must prove that he has immovable property in Cyprus but it is also important to show that he has business and income that can support the need of a multiple visa.
FAQs
Are you interested in a residency permit under the € 300,000 law?
Q. Can you buy three € 100,000 flats instead of one € 300,000 property?
A. The answer is NO.
Q. Are you allowed to rent the property out?
A. The answer is YES, but only for long term rentals (i.e. one year or more and not for daily or weekly rentals)
Q. If you are married with grown up children, Will they all become residence?
A. YES, provided they are under 18 years old.
Q. When Cyprus joins the Schengen zone will the permit allow you to travel to other EU countries?
A. YES, you will be able to travel to all other Schengen countries.
Q. If for example you are 50 years old and have a € 100,000 down payment and you needs to borrow € 200,000 Euros from the bank on a 15 year mortgage, how much will the monthly payments be? What is the interest rate at the moment? Will it be fixed for the whole period?
A. The interest rate will not be fixed. Actually it is to your advantage to use fluctuating interest rates rather than fixed ones. The reason is straight forward: Interest rates are much more likely to go down that up in the coming weeks/months/years. At the moment the interest rate is 6 ½%. The instalment would be € 1,650 per month. As mentioned above, this is more likely to go down than up as interest rates are going down internationally.
Q. What are the bank's requirements for granting a mortgage? And how long will it take?
A. The bank will want (a) Proof of income with the presentation of any official documents (for example tax clearance letter) and (b) Recent bank statements. Sometimes the Bank has the right to ask for some other information but the above are the two basic things. It normally takes 15-20 days for the Bank to answer about a loan.
Q. After your purchase, how long before your passport is stamped with permit and what is the law for keeping the indefinite leave in the future? Under what conditions can the permit be cancelled?
A. It is difficult to say how long it will take. The good thing is that from the moment the application has been accepted then you will get the permit. There is no Law for keeping the permit indefinite. However, the applicant must stay in Cyprus for more than 183 days per year and must be supported from funds outside Cyprus and without having to work in Cyprus. If they manage to get a job in Cyprus and have an income in Cyprus, this is irrelevant and separate.
Q. What are the additional costs involved in buying a property in Cyprus i.e.; taxes, fees etc?
A. There are immediate costs and costs that become payable at a later stage.
1] Immediate costs:
Stamp duty: This is very low. It depends on the value of the property. A stamp duty of 0, 15% (€ 1, 50 per € 1,000) is levied on contracts with a value of up to € 170.860. For any amounts thereafter, the rate is 0, 2% (€2 per € 1,000). The stamp duty is payable by the purchaser within 30 days of signing the contract.
Solicitor’s fees: Between € 1,000 and € 2,000 depending on the value of the property
2] Costs that come at a later stage:
Transfer fees
Property transfer fees are payable by the purchaser and are due when the title deeds are issued and transferred to his name. If it is a brand new property, these may take up to 3 years to become payable. If the property has its own title deed already, then this becomes an immediate cost like the ones above. Transfer fees are calculated as follows:
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Feb 18, 2011:
The overseas property industry is about to benefit from a boom in the number of international air travelers, especially from the Far East, according to a new consensus forecast released this week by the International Air Transport Association (IATA.)
The report says that “by 2014 there will be 3.3 billion air travelers, up by 800 million from the 2.5 billion in 2009… and China will be the biggest contributor of new travelers.”
ITA told OPP “Of the 800 million new travelers expected in 2014, 360 million (45%) will travel on Asia Pacific routes and of those 214 million will be associated with China (181 million domestic and 33 million international).
He added: “The focus of the industry continues to shift eastward. By 2014, 1 billion people will travel by air in Asia Pacific. That’s 30% of the global total and a 4 percentage point increase from the 26% it represented in 2009. The same is true for cargo where Asia Pacific will account for 28% of global volumes."
“The United States will remain the largest single country market for domestic passengers (671 million) and international passengers (215 million).”
Despite some regional differences, the IAIA forecast indicates that “the world will continue to become more mobile. This creates enormous opportunities but also presents some challenges. In five years we need to be able to handle 800 million more passengers and … to realize the economic growth potential that this will bring, we will need even more efficient air traffic management, airport facilities and security programs.”
“Industry and governments will be challenged to work together even more closely,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO.
“The shadow of the global economic recession is expected to remain over parts of the industry for some time to come. Sluggish growth rates in Europe and North America are not only the result of being mature markets. Lingering consumer debts, high unemployment and austerity measures will dampen growth rates,” said Bisignani.
Highlights in the report are:
· International passenger numbers are expected to rise from 952 million in 2009 to 1.3 billion passengers in 2014. This 313 million traveler increase reflects a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.9%.
· The fastest growing markets for international passenger traffic will be China (10.8%), the United Arab Emirates (10.2%), Vietnam (10.2%), Malaysia (10.1%) and Sri Lanka (9.5%).
· By 2014, the top five countries for international travel measured by number of passengers will be the United States (at 215 million, an increase of 45 million), the United Kingdom (at 198 million with an increase of 33 million), Germany (at 163 million with an increase of 29 million), Spain (123 million with an increase of 21 million), and France (111 million with an increase of 21 million).
· Africa is expected to see international passenger growth of 7.7%, the second highest of the regions. International cargo demand is expected to be 5.8%, the lowest among the regions.
· Europe: Europe will see international passenger demand growth of 4.7%. The United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, France and Italy will remain among the top ten largest international passenger markets. International freight demand for the region will grow 6.5%, with Germany, the UK and the Netherlands leading the region in size. The Russian Federation will see the fastest growth rate of 11%
· Latin America will see international passenger demand grow 5.7%. International freight demand will increase 6.4%, with Peru leading the region freight growth at 9%.
“The focus of the industry continues to shift eastward. By 2014, 1 billion people will travel by air in Asia Pacific. That’s 30% of the global total and a 4 percentage point increase from the 26% it represented in 2009. The same is true for cargo where Asia Pacific will account for 28% of global volumes,” said Bisignani.
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Jan 19, 2011:
The number of properties sold in Cyprus rose 5% in 2010, recovering from a 44% fall in 2009 according to figures released by the island’s Department of Lands and Surveys this week … despite a continuing decline in prices. The number of transactions last year increased to 8,598, encouraged by a 14% rise in sales in Nicosia and a 10% improvement in Limassol, according to the department.
“A further recovery in the first of half 2011 is unlikely,” says Andreas Christophorides, managing director of Nicosia-based charter surveyors Christophorides and Associates. “The market may recover in the second half of 2011 but the process will be tentative”. Residential property prices fell by an average of 3% in Cyprus last year according to the Central Bank of Cyprus. In Q3, houses fell by an average of 0.9% and apartments by 2.1% according to the recently published fourth issue of the RICS Cyprus Property Price Index. Overall, the Index tracks property prices and rents across 46 locations.
Larnaca suffered the largest falls with house values down 2.1% and apartment values down 5.1% compared with the previous quarter.
Across Cyprus as a whole, rental values for apartments fell marginally by 0.1%, and residential yields are now are 3.7% for apartments and 2.0% for houses says RICS, “with prices relative to rents remaining at high multiples, indicating that there is still room for rebalancing to take place.”
According to Pavlos Loizou of RICS Cyprus, “in the first half of 2010, Cyprus took the brunt of the global financial crisis, with the economy slowing and government revenues falling. The third quarter of 2010 found the Cypriot economy showing some signs of stabilization and slow growth.”
“Similarly, towards the end of the second quarter and throughout the third, there were some early signs of stabilization of real estate prices, with local buyers taking advantage of low prices for holiday homes and having renewed interest in city centre prime buildings.”
“These early positive signs however should be considered within the broader framework of the continuous reduction in property loans from banks and other financial institutions, the reduction of income due to inflation and wage cuts, and the changing people’s expectations about future changes in capital values.”
Also, the vice president of the Cyprus Association of Valuers and Property Consultants Kyriakos Talatinis predicted this week that Cyprus property prices will stabilize in 2011. “In the first half of 2011, home prices overall will remain unchanged compared with 2010,” adding “domestic demand will depend on whether banks keep their rating standards the same or tighten them”.
Talatinis believes that homes in many coastal areas offer the greatest room for property price negotiations in the country. Christina Harrison of Harrison Property Auctioneers recently told OPP it was a “great time to buy in Cyprus”, and that all the market needed to recover was a return of confidence. Her company is the only licensed property auctioneer on the island, and is running a property auction in March to sell Cypriot property.
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Dec 29, 2010:
The volume of building permits for the construction of properties in Cyprus increased in October, according to new figures released by the Cyprus Statistical Service. This increase was despite a general oversupply of housing on the island. The 676 permits granted included consent for 497 residential developments, which included 1,257 homes according to A Place in the Sun.
This was an increase of 23.2% on the number of home building permits granted in October 2009.
Cyprus has fallen in popularity in the last year due to a series of property disputes and controversies. OPP recently reported on a company holding a Christmas auction to spark new interest in Cypriot property.
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Dec 15, 2010:
The decision to hold the 62nd annual world congress of the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) in Paphos, Cyprus, from May 16 to May 21, 2011 has been welcomed by the island’s Commerce, Industry and Tourism Minister Antonis Paschalides.
The FIABCI conference is “a very important professional and economic event" says Paschalides. He is pleased that the event will take place in Paphos because of “the area’s recent real estate problems.”
FIABCI has more than 3,500 members from more than 70 countries and is the only real estate organization represented at the United Nations’ ECOSOC and UNECE.
Cyprus hopes that the conference will encourage delegates to invest in local property schemes. FIABCI President Dinos Michaelides said that during the 2010 annual FIABCI congress in Indonesia, property purchases amounted to almost US $1 billion.
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Aug 10, 2010:
By: Charles Charalambous
Published: August 3rd, 2010 • Filed Under
THERE are encouraging signs of interest from Kuwaiti investment funds in investing in CyprusΆ tourism and real estate sectors, Commerce and Tourism Minister Antonis Paschalides said yesterday.
“We received information that there are investment funds in Kuwait that are interested, and then our Foreign Ministry also told us there was interest there”, he said.
Paschalides added that in view of this positive news, a trade mission to Kuwait that was programmed for 2011 has been brought forward to October-November this year, “so as not to miss this particular opportunity”.
The Commerce Minister will head up a sizeable delegation of business and government representatives. The plan is to allocate one day for a series of presentations to Kuwaiti officials and businessmen on the investment opportunities to be found in Cyprus, as well as having a number of separate meetings with interested parties.
Paschalides said that specific interest in the islandΆs tourism and real estate sectors has been indicated.
The Minister declined to give further details, saying “we have two or three things in mind, but we do not want to say any more, as our tactic is to be cautious until we close the deal”.
Paschalides said that there is also interest from China in a number of sectors of the islandΆs economy.
“Various state organisations and companies have come to take a look at us regarding specific sectors such as tourism, real estate, container shipment, but also energy”, he said.
He added that his Ministry and others are making a real effort to determine which particular organisations are involved, so that a formal visit to Cyprus by their representatives can be arranged.
Paschalides said that he had already invited “various very senior officials” to Cyprus regarding the tourism sector, and in a few weeks he will know exactly when they can be welcomed to our country.
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