Cyprus proposes stricter regulation of housing sales to foreigners

Over the past five years, about 15,000 applications for the purchase of real estate in Cyprus have been received from foreigners from outside the EU, Interior Minister Konstantinos Ioannou said. About a third of the applications were submitted for facilities in the Paphos area (4,316). Limassol attracted the most interest (5,477), despite high housing prices, while Larnaca ranked third (3,479). The areas of Nicosia and Famagusta were of the least interest to foreign buyers, with fewer than 1,000 applications registered in both cases (the peak occurred in 2023, when the number reached 3,524).

According to Cyprus Mail, the minister was responding to a request from a deputy who was concerned that the authorities needed quite a lot of time to process applications for the purchase of real estate by foreigners. The applicants received a response in one or two months, although in some cases there may have been longer delays due to the need for coordination with other government agencies.

The deputy also raises the issue of the effectiveness of the permit system as a whole, which is already alarming. In his opinion, the sale of real estate to foreign citizens should be controlled by strict rules, and a quota should be set for the number of transactions and the area of land sold per year. For example, priority should be given to foreign companies doing business in Cyprus and to foreign nationals who have been here for a certain number of years. As for holiday homes designed for foreign buyers, the government should also set limits on the number of units sold per year.

Source: Cyprus Mail