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Till death us do part: the next phase in the Cyprus title deeds disappointment

letters 1 grammata

We all know so much more now, especially if we were a part of the Thatcher-enabled noughties tsunami of off-plan buyers of Cyprus property. Nearly, we estimate, 30 per cent of the buyers of that era still don’t own the properties that they paid in full for 20 years ago. And those who came for retirement are now at least 80-years-old and dying off, ill or just wanting to get out of the new hell that confronts them.

Despite the half-hearted, sporadic attempts of at least three governments of different political complexions to “ease” the obstructions without upsetting their main sources of financial support, the story takes another turn. We moved from the ‘Trapped Buyer’ to the ‘Trapped, Cannot be a Seller’ or ‘Imprisoned in Cyprus after a Miserable End of Life Trial’.

Personally, I think that this will be the ultimate death of the Cyprus property market because people will not only see the protracted stress and expense of constant postponement of ownership but the full-blooded meaning, not only of losing all their money but being unable to afford to repatriate and die among their families.

Not having a title deed or having a non-transferable title cuts down your market to a cash buyer willing to take the now real and evident risk of not being an Owner.

The result is being the Buyer of an unsellable “asset” or having to sell at a crushingly low price for someone to take on the risk that lies ahead.

Sadly, the Fix is multidimensional since it needs several Buying Processes to be fundamentally changed to release these Buyers from their several traps, covering Town Planning, Building Approvals and Payment of Accrued Taxes and Common Expenses, as well as Transfer Fees where VAT was not paid on the purchase price.

Sadly, as I have found out in my various attempts to arrange fixes for other people, the state cannot easily think on a multidimensional basis and the officials of the state don’t care about anything that does not touch them personally.

While the Cyprus market relies on another nationality with bags of innocent capacity coming along with money to burn, it is fast running out of such individuals as lessons are learned and deepen in seriousness.

I have, over the years, made suggestions to various government departments in the interests of national economic development to deal with the issues that have come together here and frankly, even if they can be bothered to understand the issues and the resolutions, almost no-one is interested and this new government has the same disinterested feel about it. After all it is mostly Foreigners who keep on complaining.

So, long story short – many of you are going to die here, impoverished and leave your families the property headache that you have been subjected to for 20 years. Any sellers from back in 2005 who have not performed their contractual obligations and left you in the lurch are hardly likely to have a Road to Damascus moment and act to help your children or grandchildren. So, it’s for the state to decide whether there will also be a future for one of its few Industries and undertake a comprehensive review and revision to a system designed in the last century for a completely different and constantly evolving industry.

Sadly Cyprus suffers from small island isolation and that accelerates its ‘behindness’ and consequent loss of competitivity and market relevance… unless we become expert in predicting the next large scale violation of national sovereignty or climate disaster, causing massive population displacement and draft dodging.

Philip Beardwood. Paralimni

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