The discussion about regulating property purchases by third country nationals resumed at the House interior committee last week. The committee had embarked on the discussion of law proposals that would amend the legal framework for property with the aim of preventing purchases in which Cyprus companies acted as facilitators, and protecting farmland and the countryside.

This initiative was put on hold because of May’s parliamentary elections and resumed on Thursday.

The committee, which will discuss the matter again next week, expects the government to submit a comprehensive bill for the matter. Akel deputy Arsitos Damianou, the chairman of the committee, said that consolidated law proposals were prepared last April, adding that there should be sense of urgency because the matter is directly related to state security, the economy and the future of the country. There was a big need to draft regulations and criteria that would stop property purchases, said Damianou.

Although it was Akel that had raised the issue, the tightening of the law is also supported by Disy and other parties. Disy deputy Nicoletta Constantinou agreed that the matter touched on issues of national security and the strategic interests of the country but pointed out that it could have a negative impact on the economy and investment activity. She is correct and we suspect this will be the main concern of the government, which will not want to displease developers who will not want the pool of foreign property buyers drastically reduced by legislation.

How strange that the sale of properties to third country nationals went on for years, under the golden passport regime, without any party expressing the slightest concern about state security and strategic interests. The reality is that our development model has traditionally been based on construction and the sale of properties to foreigners – mainly third country nationals. What will happen to all those sea-front villas and super luxury flats on high-rise buildings for sale at prices no Cypriot can afford?

Some have argued that President Nikos Christodoulides desperately wants Cyprus to join Schengen because this would help developers sell properties. With the citizenship by investment scheme scrapped, passport free travel in the EU would be an incentive for third country nationals to buy a property in Cyprus. Whether there is any substance to this claim, it is difficult to say, but everyone is aware of the influence wielded over government by big developers. Deputies should therefore not be surprised if the government does not submit a comprehensive bill any time soon.

Most EU countries have laws regulating the sale of property to third country nationals. In Cyprus before EU membership, each property purchase had to be approved by the council of ministers, but after accession all controls and restrictions were lifted, culminating in the golden passports cash bonanza. Now, it is time we returned to strict regulation of property sales to third country nationals, because the alternative carries big risks for the country.