Pittadjis - Stage Payments
March 8, 2009
A Civil Engineer’s Certificate
is required to confirm that each stage
has been completed and complies
with the Building Permit.
When purchasing property in Cyprus that is under
construction/off plan, a contract is prepared by your
Solicitor between yourselves and the Vendor/Developer to
safeguard your interests throughout the process, from
construction to completion and delivery of your property.
Sometimes, a Vendor/Developer may not necessarily own
the land upon which he is constructing a property and in
such a case, it is the Solicitors duty to ensure that the
necessary documentation is in place to confirm the
discrepancy with the ownership of the land. To clarify, it is
very common practice in Cyprus for land to be handed
down through generations. Sometimes the owners of
land do not have the means, resources or even the
intention to develop the land that they own. Developers
often approach the land owners and they agree to
develop the land on their behalf. In exchange for the
development of the land, the land owner will be given a
percentage (around 30%) of the building which has been
developed on the land i.e. they will give the land to the
Developer to build upon and in exchange, they will be
given 2 villas/apartments etc. This exchange in Greek is
called an “Antibarohi” (”consideration in kind”). This
agreement is lodged at the Land Registry in order to make
the exchange legal.
Regarding the mode of payment which will be reflected in
the contract, once you have paid your first
instalment/deposit of 30% (sometimes this can be 20%) of
the purchase price of the property, which is normally due
within one month from the signing contracts, your
contract can then be lodged at the Land Registry Office for
specific performance purposes. By the expression “lodged”,
this means that your property is immediately protected
from being sold to another purchaser and from then on
own the property until the issue of the Title Deeds.
A receipt will be issued from the Land Registry to confirm
that the contract has been lodged. The Vendors are
obliged and will do their best to obtain a separate Title
Deed for your property as soon as possible, but this can
sometimes take, roughly 4-8 years.
The stage payments will commence once you have paid
your first instalment, and contracts are lodged at the Land
Registry.
We do request that all payments are effected through the
official channels i.e. bank transfers and if money is brought
in cash, this should be declared at the airport or any port
on arrival.
1 | 30% Deposit to be paid within
one month from signing the contract.
A receipt will then be provided from
the Developer to acknowledge the
said payment.
2 | 20% will be paid upon completion
of the skeleton, subject to the issue of
a Civil Engineer’s Certificate to
confirm that this stage has been
completed and complies with the
Building Permit and the Cyprus
Building Regulations. It is only when
a satisfactory certificate has been
received that we will release this
instalment to the Vendor/Developer.
A receipt will then be provided from
the Developer to acknowledge the
said payment.
3 | 20% will be paid upon completion
of the brickwork and plastering,
subject to the issue of a Civil
Engineer’s Certificate to confirm that
this stage has been completed and
complies with the Building Permit
and the Cyprus Building Regulations.
It is only when a satisfactory
certificate has been received that we
will release this instalment to the
Vendor/Developer. A receipt will
then be provided from the Developer
to acknowledge the said payment.
4 | 20% will be paid upon completion
of the tiling, subject to the issue of a
Civil Engineer’s Certificate to confirm
that this stage has been completed
and complies with the Building
Permit and the Cyprus Building
Regulations.
5 | The final 10% will be paid upon
completion and delivery. The expression
of “completion and delivery” is
meant that all building works are
finished, the property will be cleared
and there will be connection with
electricity and water supply so that
you are able to use and enjoy the
property without any problems.
At this stage of the development, a
final Civil Engineer’s Certificate is
required to confirm that the property
is being completed and complies
with the Building Permit and the
Cyprus Building Regulations.
Once again, we will request from the
Vendor/Developer to provide us a
satisfactory receipt from the Land
Registry Office to confirm that the
entire land upon which the project
has been constructed is free of any
legal charges and encumbrances.
With the final stage payment, once
you have inspected your property
with a representative of the
Vendor/Developer and you are happy
that the property has been
completed to your full satisfaction, we
would ask that you attend our offices
to sign an authority to enable us to
release the final funds to the
Vendor/Developer in order for you to
take possession of your property.
Again, a final receipt will then be
provided from the Developer to
acknowledge the said payment.
I hope that you now have a clear
understanding of stage payments
and how we ensure that your
interests are protected at all times.
FOTOS PITTADJIS
Pittadjis - Miscellaneous
March 3, 2009
4 | Miscellaneous
A registered owner of property who is in receipt of separate Title Deeds, is subject to minor municipal charges such as Immovable Property Tax, refuse collection and sewerage. These taxes/charges are assessed according to the area and size of the property.
I hope this synopsis gives you a clear understanding on the procedure of purchasing property in Cyprus and the costs involved. With a good legal team to help you through the motions of purchasing property in Cyprus, you have nothing to fear!
Fotos Pittadjis