Buying Process

The buying process

There are five typical steps when buying property in Cyprus:

        • Make an offer to buy the property

        • Give a deposit to reserve the property (in Cyprus this is legally binding)

        • Prepare and sign the sales contract

        • Deposit the contract with the District Land Office (see also Buyer protection)

      • Seek approval for owning property from the Council of Ministers (see also Who can own property)

To get Council of Ministers approval to own property in Cyprus your lawyer will complete an application form and submit it, together with information about yourself and details of the property you want to buy, to the local District Office.

The following documents have to be submitted for the consideration of the application.

        1. Survey plan

        2. Copy of the title of ownership

      3. Copy of the building permit for the erection of the house/block of flats or for the residential
            development of estates. If separate titles of ownership have been issued for the flats of the block
            or if the house is mentioned on the title of ownership, applicants need not submit a copy of the
            building permit. For plots under division, applicants must submit a copy of the division permit.

       4. Copy of the deed of sale.

       5. Sectional view of the building or the flat. Very old houses mentioned on the title of ownership are
          exempted. A division plan must be submitted in the case of division of plots. In areas of residential
          development, the plan must be submitted showing the position of the house on the entire holding.

        6. Area in square metres of the plot which is to be acquired.

        7. Documents proving the financial situation of the applicants.

        8. Copies of the pages of the applicants’ passports and those of their spouses (the pages containing
            the data and the photo of the holders and stamps of arrival to and departure from Cyprus).

        9. Certificate of marriage of the applicants or relevant attestation of their Embassy and in cases
           where the spouses do not have the same surname and when the name of the husband is not
           written on the wife’s passport.

        10. Copy of residence permit and work permit of the applicants in Cyprus.

        11. Application COMM 145, completed clearly and in full.

        12. If the applicant is a company or a shareholder in an offshore company, it is necessary to submit
              the certificates of registration, of shareholders and of the registered offices of the Company.

        13. If the applicant is a Company, a copy of the company’s Articles of Association must be submitted
             and written information must be furnished on the company’s activities in Cyprus and the staff it
             employs, both Cypriots and foreigners with the social insurance numbers.