Cyprus reviews restrictions on property purchases by non-EU nationals
The government and MPs are considering updated rules on land and property acquisitions by non-EU nationals, including restrictions near sensitive areas.
Nicosia, Cyprus. Government officials and MPs on Thursday revisited proposed restrictions on property and land purchases by non-EU nationals, as the Interior Ministry prepares an updated bill.
Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou said the government was ready to incorporate several proposals, while Akel MP Aristos Damianou said foreign nationals account for at least one in two property sales contracts.
Proposed legal framework
Four separate bills have been drafted by Disy, Akel and Diko.
Ioannou said the aim was to regulate more effectively the acquisition of land by foreign nationals, increase transparency and establish an effective and substantive checking mechanism.
A working draft bill contains several tools intended to meet those objectives, he added.
Restrictions under consideration
The proposed measures include prohibitions within designated development boundaries, including agricultural tracts, and restrictions on land adjacent to the ceasefire line or critical infrastructure.
Additional restrictions would concern the size of land plots and the surface area of residences. Ioannou said details concerning residence sizes were still being finalised.
Call for objective criteria
Speaking to the media, Damianou called for objective and quantifiable criteria for land purchases by what he described as large foreign private interests.
He said official statistics showed that at least one in two sales contracts involved foreign nationals and that many of these purchases concerned large tracts of land.
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