According to Cypriot laws, a foreigner can buy real estate in Cyprus — either an apartment, or a plot of land for construction, or a house on a land plot of no more than 12 thousand square meters — only once in a lifetime. Purchasing real estate for business purposes and production is allowed only if the government deems it beneficial for the development of the Cypriot economy. You will have to apply to the Council of Ministers of the republic to obtain permission to buy real estate. However, obtaining such permission is simple — it is enough to prove your solvency.
An undoubted plus: real estate can be purchased on credit — moreover, if you decide to get it from Cypriot banks, the interest rate will not exceed 5.5%.
However, there is one 'but' when it comes to Cypriot real estate. You need to be very careful about which part of Cyprus the company you have contacted offers houses. The fact is that the situation with real estate in the north of the island, where the government of the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus operates (it is not recognized by any country in the world except Turkey), is complicated. In recent years, the government of Cyprus has won several lawsuits, reclaiming from foreign buyers their property in the northern part of the island. Property, by the way, sold illegally — it still has owners in the Greek part who were forced to leave their homes after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974. The Cypriot Embassy in Moscow and the Russian Foreign Ministry, by the way, have already warned Russians against buying real estate in this part of the country. But this has not reduced the number of online ads 'Real Estate in Northern Cyprus'.
If you do not want to prove the legality of your home purchase in court, it is better not to respond to such ads. Thus, the most high-profile case 'Apostolides v. Orams' has been ongoing for several years. In 2004, a Cypriot court declared illegal the residence of the British couple David and Linda Orams on land previously owned by Greek Cypriot Meletios Apostolides, who was expelled from the occupied town of Lapithos. The court decision provided for the demolition of illegally erected buildings, restoration of the claimant's right to free possession of the property, and payment of compensation. However, in early September, the decision was challenged by the Orams in a British court (by the way, the couple's interests were represented by a firm where the wife of Prime Minister Tony Blair, Cherie, works). Cherie did a good job — this time the decision was made in favor of the British. Now Apostolides promises to challenge it again — this time in international courts. And most likely, he will win this time.