Buying property in Cyprus

The process to purchase a property in Northern Cyprus will be entirely dependant on the tenure of the property you decide is right for you.

As you will be aware there are 4 types of Title Deeds - 'Foreign Title', English, German etc, 'Original Foreign' pre 1974, 'Turkish Title', Turkish prior to 1974 and 'TRNC Title', previously Greek owned prior to 1974. There are also leasehold properties - owned by the Ministry of Tourism, who grant long-term leases of 49 years.
To purchase a Freehold title property, there are a number of checks carried out by the Ministry of Interior. This will inevitably mean the sale will take approximately 4-8 months to be completed.

The process for buying any freehold property is as follows:
1. Secure property and agree price.
2. Contract drawn up by solicitor, setting down the terms of sale, i.e. price, timescale,
vendor, purchaser and any special conditions.
3. Vendor and purchaser sign.
4. Purchaser provides 10-20% deposit.
5. Solicitor applies for a Purchase Permit from the Council of Ministers, (takes 4 to 8
months).
6. As soon as purchase permit is received, remaining balance due from purchaser.
7. Purchaser pays balance and vendor signs title deed into name of purchaser.
8. Sale completed.

The costs involved are as follows:
Solicitors cost, including; drawing up of contract, power of attorney, purchase permit application and seeing sale through to completion = £1,000
Process for buying a leasehold property is as follows:
The process to purchase is much the same as freehold purchases, however, instead of an application going to the Ministry of Interior, you must apply either directly or via a solicitor to the Ministry of Tourism, who grant the lease.
At the time of application a deposit of 10-20% must be paid and held on behalf of the vendor. Once application is accepted the sale can proceed to a completion at a convenient time for vendor and purchaser and then the lease is transferred into name of the buyer.

1- Agree a price.
2- A contract will be drawn up by a solicitor.
3- Buyer and Seller sign the contract.
4- The Buyer provides between 10-20% of the purchase price to act as a deposit.
5- As soon as the purchasing permit is received, the remaining balance is due form the buyer.
6- The Buyer pays the balance and the Seller signs the title deeds into the name of the buyer.
7- The Sale is completed.

Solicitors cost, including; drawing up of contract and power of attorney = £300