In the last five years, there have been some 15,000 applications by third country nationals to purchase real estate in Cyprus, Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou said. More than a third of the applications were filed for properties in the Paphos district (5,477), with Limassol attracting the next highest level of interest (4,316) despite the steep real estate prices, with Larnaca in third place (3,479). Nicosia and Famagusta districts attracted the least interest by foreign buyers, both registering fewer than 1,000 applications, which peaked in 2023 when these reached 3,524.

The minister was responding to a question by a Disy deputy who appeared to be concerned because it takes the authorities quite a long time to process and approve applications for the purchase of property by third country nationals. The offices in the districts that examine these applications were understaffed, said Ioannou, usually with just one person working there. Applicants received a response after one or two months although some cases could experience longer delays because of the need for coordination with other government offices. The deputy felt the service was inefficient and that local administrations were overburdened with this work.

We believe we have reached a point at which the efficiency of district offices in approving applications for the purchase of land by third country nationals should not be an issue of any concern. In fact, long delays in issuing approvals, in these cases, are recommended as they could put off potential buyers, because the Republic has a responsibility to limit the amount of land and housing sold to foreign nationals. Cyprus is a small island, with 40 per cent of its territory under occupation, which does not have vast expanses of land to sell to foreign buyers and speculators.

The sale of property to foreign nationals needs to be controlled through strict regulations and conditions, while an annual limit must be set on the number of transactions and land area sold each year. Priority, for example, must be given to foreign companies with business operations in Cyprus, and foreign nationals who have been here for a pre-specified number of years. As for holiday homes that target foreign buyers, some limit must also be placed on units sold per year by the government.

Placing restrictions might not go down well with the developers who have always relied on sales to foreigners, but they should not be allowed to call the shots. The authorities need to think about the matter very seriously, discuss options and proposals with stakeholders and come up with an action plan because we cannot carry on selling land to foreign buyers. Perhaps we should look at what other EU member-states have done to limit sales of properties to foreign nationals.