The Contract

Cyprus Contract The most significant difference between house purchase in Cyprus and the UK is that, in Cyprus, it is not necessary for the buyer to employ the services of a solicitor or licensed conveyancer to agree and exchange contracts with the vendor.

Most developers will, at no extra cost, produce an Agreement, in English, for the sale of the property to you. If you’re happy with the Agreement, you sign it, and they do the rest, including the Land Registry procedure. The whole process only takes a few days, and that’s it.

Surely it can’t be so simple? Well, yes it can, but there are one or two things you may want to consider:

The Agreement will largely be completely one-sided in favour of the Vendor, and will effectively be a contract binding you to pay so much at such and such a time, otherwise you are in breach of the Agreement. Nothing wrong in that, but it is unlikely to contain any reference to what might happen if the vendor fails to fulfil his side of the bargain. If the property is partly built or possibly not even started, what is the agreed completion date? The developer verbally agrees to build a garden wall that isn’t on the plans – is that OK with you? It is unlikely that the Agreement the developer offers you will satisfy your need for derailed obligations that he must fulfil.
Title deeds can be another problem area. If you are buying a detached house on a single plot, there is unlikely to be a problem, because the developer probably bought the plot with its own title deed, and this is simply transferred to you. But what if the developer bought a plot with one title deed, and plans to build 3 houses on it, each with their own separate deed? This normally cannot be effected legally until all 3 houses are built, but how long will this take, and who owns ‘your’ plot in the meantime?
A further complication is if the developer bought a large plot (to be subdivided) on a mortgage, and the bank holds a charge on the land (an ‘encumbrance’). A separate deed cannot be issued to you until all the houses are built, so the bank still holds a charge against your land, even though you have paid the developer for it.
In the case of apartments and maisonettes, you must be prepared to accept that title deeds cannot be issued for individual properties until the whole unit is completed. But what is your legal position in the meantime?

To be fair, the above complications are more likely to arise when dealing with the smaller developers, who may be inexperienced in dealing with foreign buyers who want a cast-iron contract drawn up to the standard they would expect in their own country. Most of the larger companies will be well aware of the needs and concerns of buyers, especially when it comes to title deeds, and will have tailored their Agreement to reflect this.

Cyprus However, we still strongly recommend that you resist the offer of ‘free legal work’, even if the developer is willing to modify his Agreement to incorporate some requests you have raised, and instead enlist the services of an independent lawyer. There are several advantages in doing this, the first one being that the lawyer will have a ready-made ‘skeleton’ contract, addressing all the key obligations which you expect the developer to fulfil, which will then be modified to include the specifics of your property and your individual needs. The whole thrust of this contract will be geared to what you expect the developer to deliver, as opposed to the other way round

Secondly, you will almost certainly find that the ‘staged’ payment terms required by the developer are nothing like as rigid as his own Agreement might suggest, and that there is a fair degree of flexibility (in your favour) that your lawyer can negotiate. This is covered in more detail in our Payment Terms section.

Thirdly, you will find it much more reassuring (especially if you are back in the UK waiting for your property to be completed) to make the stage payments into your lawyers’ client account as opposed to directly to the developer. Your lawyer can then make any necessary checks with regard to the building process, for example, and raise any other queries you may have before releasing the funds. It’s surprising how an imminent payment helps to focus the mind!

Finally, you will find that your lawyer can prove to be a valuable source of free advice and contacts for other services you might need, such as insurance, pension advice, taxation, setting up a business, and so on. You are inevitably going to need the services of a lawyer at some stage during your life in Cyprus, so why not establish a relationship with one right from the beginning?

You are free to contact our own lawyers who we have used for many years for personal and business matters. They will be happy to give you general advice by email before you travel to Cyprus. This is completely free, and there is no obligation to use their services. We do not make any referral commission for this – it’s all part of our service, which is aimed at building a long-term relationship with our clients. If you would like to get in touch with our lawyers, please contact us

Important Note
The information on this website is based on our interpretation of the current regulations in Cyprus. Whilst we make every endeavour to provide accurate information, we cannot accept liability for any loss incurred due to inaccuracies or omissions on this website. Prospective buyers are strongly recommended to take independent legal advice before entering into any agreements or parting with any money.