Convergence on key issues concerning trapped property buyers was achieved on Wednesday at the House legal affairs committee, which began an article-by-article examination of the proposed legislation to protect those who bought property and cannot obtain title deeds.

Speaking after the meeting, Akel MP Aristos Damianou said the committee had reached a convergence on open issues, such as access to justice, repayment proof and deadlines before the Land Registry and courts.

MPs managed to “bridge differences” and the legal committee “worked on a unified text, which will undergo legal technical processing within the day, with the aim of bringing it to the plenum as soon as possible”, Damianou said.

He added that regarding “financial issues and trapped buyers, we seem to be on a very good path to resolving the issue within the coming weeks.”

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“The issue of trapped buyers for urban planning reasons is pending and we are moving fast in an effort to resolve these issues as soon as possible,” he said.

Damianou appeared certain that the bill would be taken to the plenum before the summer recess.

He also said the buyers trapped for financial reasons were around 4,000, while the rest trapped mainly for urban planning issues were around 6,000.

Dipa MP Michalis Yiakoumis said there was a convergence of views after consultations with the justice ministry.

He also expressed certainty that the issue would move forward very soon, with the completion of the article-by-article debate and its vote by the plenum.

Last week, the controversial bill, aimed at unblocking long-stalled title deeds for thousands of homeowners, drew sharp criticism from the association of banks and Kedipes. Both bodies said they were concerned about the proposal’s provision granting affected buyers access to the courts, citing serious legal and practical complications.

But Interior Minister Konstantinos Ioannou defended the bill, saying that this was the best possible solution under the circumstances.

Official figures show that 9,497 buyers remain trapped in limbo. Of these, 5,417 have no title deeds at all, largely due to missing final town planning or building permits. Most of the remaining 4,080 cases involve buyers who have paid in full but cannot obtain title deeds because developers have outstanding mortgages on the land the properties were built on.

Previous attempts to cut banks out of the process failed in court, after financial institutions argued that they couldn’t issue title deeds while developers still owed money on the land or buildings.