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Archive for the ‘Cyprus Title Deeds’ Category

International Property Lawyers in Paralimni Cyprus – Review IDR and benefits to Cyprus property market completed on 1^st February 2010.

CAN IDR HELP RESTORE CONFIDENCE IN CYPRUS TITLE DEEDS PROCEDURE?

The International Development Registry (IDR) has been specifically created to protect buyers against the increasing issues surrounding buying overseas property. IDR wanted to give extra protection to clients as they felt standard legal advice is not enough.

IDR in theory offers a health check service on overseas developments.  They undertake research and vetting procedures giving clients peace of mind that a development is a wise and safe investment.

The IDR is an optional register for developers, if they feel confident with their development and want clients to feel the same about buying from them.

This service offers a worldwide register that collects information on the current status of individual properties. Information searched comprises financial searches on developments and relevant permits and licences relating to Title Deed Issues.

These reports are now being incorporated in ‘protected property purchase’ products for pre approval of Title Insurance.

The reports also benefit the developer as this can be used for financial funding from banks and private investors for example. A client is likely to feel more confident in buying from a developer who is IDR registered than not, because this proves all is above board and the developer has nothing to hide.

Registering developments with IDR could help improve property markets as this service helps restore buyers’ confidence in overseas developments.

Visit us at www.lawcyprus.org

PUBLISHED BY A&G KOUZALI LAW OFFICE ON 1^st FEBRUARY 2010

Cyprus Lawyers – review – Cyprus Title Deeds

Cyprus Minister Mr Sylikiotis is expected to be a big hero in 2010. Can he be?  The 5 Legislations to be implemented in the very near future will quicken the Title Deeds procedure and will help many thousands of property investors in Cyprus to obtain their Title Deeds.  In the process it will also gain as estimated €150 million plus, for the government in 2010 alone.

Each Title Deed issued is liable for Transfers Tax Fees and it is expected that 20,000 applications will be processed and issued in 2010 and the same for 2011 and therefore the budget is looking very good for the future of Cyprus.

The new Legislations are expected to be officially passed by no later than March as the Minister has hurried this through. The Minister is very confident there will be no problems at all with the Legislations being passed.

In some recent polls taken by Cyprus Property Purchasers, the indication was that a high percentage of purchasers have been waiting up to 20 years for their Title Deeds, some ten years some five.  This is about to change and with 3 different Title Deeds expected to be issued the process will definitely be a great deal speedier and more efficient. 

Many people have lost confidence in Cyprus but over the next 1-2 years those who didn’t invest in Cyprus will sadly have missed out.  Cyprus is on the move and major things are happening and we do believe and really hope that Cyprus Minister Mr Sylikiotis will definitely be a hero to many in 2010 and especially for the sake of all investors purchasing property in Cyprus.

Visit us at www.lawcyprus.org

PUBLISHED BY A&G KOUZALI LAW OFFICE ON 26^th JANUARY 2010.

Cyprus Title Deeds Review – completed on 26^TH January 2010 by A&G Kouzali International Property Lawyers based in Paralimni Cyprus.

We are very excited about the 5 new Legislations being passed to upgrade the procedure of issuing Cyprus Title Deeds.  After we analyzed the process, we found there will be 3 new types of Title Deeds that will be issued.

The Title Deeds will be issued and titled under a certain criteria the first one being titled ‘CLEAN’ which will indicate no infringements have been made and all is according to plan.

The second Title Deed will be titled ‘INCOMPLETE’ which will indicate minor breaches incurred and finally the third Title Deed will be titled ‘LIMITED’ which will state major violations have occurred and the property can not be sold until these violations have been rectified.

Property investors in Cyprus can also apply directly to the Land Registry Manager for their Title Deeds if the developer is not performing his duty and taking appropriate action, purchasers do not have to wait.  The Land Registry Manager will then investigate the matter and decide whether to issue the Title Deed.  This is called a ‘SPECIAL EXECUTION TITLE DEED’.

Also under the new legislation, the developer will be penalized if it is seen they are in breach of contract or is not performing his due diligence towards the issuing of Title deeds.

Cyprus is on the up and up, and with so much going on 2010 is going to be a fantastic year for our magical Island.

Visit us at www.lawcyprus.org

PUBLISHED BY A&G KOUZALI LAW OFFICE ON 26TH JANUARY 2010.

For Cyprus Property Lawyers, Cyprus Title Deeds are a frustrating issue. A & G Kouzali Law Office, a team of Lawyers based in Agia Napa area of Cyprus have been making great efforts to bring the title deeds in Cyprus matter to the relevant authorities’ attention.

For the last two and a half years Mr. Giovannis Kouzalis, Proprietor of A & G Kouzali Law Office, has proceeded in sending letters to the minister regarding the issue of Title Deeds.  At the beginning this was to no prevail since the minister was unaware of the situation.  Following this, we spoke with the Minister by telephone to enlighten him on the matter and for our intentions. 

The Minister subsequently realized that we had been giving beneficial constructive criticism. We conveyed our thoughts and ideas on how to make the procedure more efficient and quicker.  Our efforts were successful in helping the Minister to understand where the problems had arisen and how to correct them, in order that the Cyprus Property market to be benefited.

The Minister invited us to his office in Nicosia to discuss this further. In attendance along with the Minister, was Mr. Andreas Socratous of the Main Land Registration Office in Nicosia, Mr. Giovannis kouzalis and his Personal Assistant Miss. Christiana Georgiou, and Mr. Freddie Serva, IT technician and specialist. The meeting was of a pleasant atmosphere and continued for 2 hours! It was exceedingly evident that the Minister was making immense efforts regarding the procedure for Cyprus Title Deeds.

Published by A&G Kouzalis 9^th November 2009.  Cyprus Title Deeds

Video interview on the subject of Cyprus title deeds with Mr. Giovannis Kouzalis.

Cyprus Title Deeds 27.07.2009 Part 1 – The Cyprus Title Deeds Video can be viewed here.

TRANSCRIPT By Angela Rees

GIOVANNIS KOUZALIS
It is an honour to be here with you again today.

As we clearly said on the first video our task and objective is to give people guidance and reassurance – and our feelings and our hopes as to how things are going. We have plenty of things to discuss today. The first thing is the letters, coming directly from the Minister Syliotis regarding the issues. Most of the issues we agree with – we would like to get people to know what is going on, as they are hearing different stories. We will continue pushing the Minister, trying to get what is best for our clients. At the same time we will safeguard the market – because our clients want to sell and buy, they want to safeguard the market and make it better. This is our task.

FC
“Ok you said you could PUSH the Minister! how do you PUSH the Minister?

Easily, we send him a letter almost on a weekly basis, stating our feelings, stating what we think is wrong and how he can correct this. We are advising a lot of the relevant bodies of the Republic of Cyprus. At the same time, we are informing the Members of the Parliament, locally. We think that every single client who is buying in Cyprus (as they have responsibilities and rights) should contact their Cyprus MP and push or put forward to that MP their worries, anxieties and issues. And going back to your question, we have been sending letters to Mr. Syliotis, quite a lot of them actually. (LAUGHS). The reason I am laughing is that two weeks ago he called me on my mobile whilst I was having a meeting with some people, we had a chat and he was wondering why I was sending him all those letters. Letters to criticise him, letters to contribute our feelings and ideas, and letters to let him know what people are doing on this matter and what steps they are taking. Because though we agree with everybody we are here to protect the market and support the clients. So if there is a movement which is going to destroy the market then my clients will not be able to sell or buy and we do not want that. We want to help him to correct the market.

FC
Did you make any recommendations to him?

Yes, plenty of them. Actually there was a very big letter we have sent out which we are trying to translate because it is in Greek, it was four pages long, giving him our feelings and our ideas. There is always a response to our letters, stating “yes but it is not that simple”. We think he is starting to understand that there is an office here – yes we criticise him but whenever he does something right we say: “Yes well done Sir, that is the right direction”. I have nothing personal against the Minister, nothing against the government. Every single government that is there or will be there they haven’t done what they are supposed to be doing, this is where we can support then or help them in order to help our clients.

FC
What has been happening regarding the legislation?
This is coming directly from the Minister – when he realised that I had nothing personal against him and that the reason I was sending the letters was to help him as well, he decided that we could have access through his PA to all the letters that are going out in order for us to help him to put the message to the public. I have three pieces of paper here – three press releases, these came out today on the 27th. Actually he is stating about the leglislation.

It is very important for people to understand – the leglislation wil be retrospective as well it will not only be for future cases. What we have here will be published on our website. The legislation will cover every single buyer who has bought a property even three, four or five years ago. This legislation will be there to act and support and assist… I am also happy to see certain other measure which I am sure you have read about Freddie and that you will be happy to comment on those.

FC
This is obviously a step in the right direction, but there is still a long way to go.

This is a personal view. OK, I have a feeling (it is my hope as well though) that there is a problem with the government when I am talking to the government and the civil servants. We have some exceptionally good civil servants and we have some civil servants which, because of their positioning because they were part of a specific party a long long time ago, there is no-one will come in and say “oh, you can not perform so you will lose your job”. In the private sector if a member of a team does not do well,, we say “ sorry, thank you very much, bye bye”. This is not the case with the government. So this means that he not only has to change the regulations and the legislation but he has to face a team of people who has been there for decades. There is nobody to tell them off and that is a big problem. Not only that but this same government that this Minister is trying to support and to do his job for, does not allow us to go forward. In the planning department of the Famagusta District there was only one administrator for every 160 – 180 applications Now they are taking ONE member OUT of this team so we are going to have even fewer people to deal with all these cases. So instead of supporting this person – the same government does not hep him. So instead of taking more people to Famagusta to help the situation they are making it worse.

FC
So the whole line of command is wrong

Yes, that is certain as well. The whole government must sit on this. We praise the Minister for this. Certain things we disagree on… but yes there are some good movements from the Minister which will produce a break for this industry.

FC
It seems we are moving in the right direction. It is more, I think a management and infrastructure problem, stopping the Minister from implementing his plans.

“In his presentation on 22nd July he clearly says he will publish the names of the sellers who are not co-operating with the authorities – a Black List of the Developers!. Well he could do the same with the Civil Servants! There must be a way to set up those Civil Servants that are doing their job properly “well done, you get a pay rise” – and to those Civil Servants who are not doing their job properly – to let everybody know about it! And if there is punishment, punish them! We do not want to punish people just for having a high work load, goodness me, we want to punish people who have the opportunity, the means, the facilities and who were not doing this. And the same thing must happen to those in the Mains? Office and the District Office. People must be publicly known how many cases they are doing in a monthly basis and if they are doing well and if they are not doing well. And if they are not doing their job properly then somebody should know about it.

FC But there should also be a reward system for performance!

Somebody must praise them and an say well done. There is nothing like that. Somebody who gets a government job gets this for ever, whether they are doing their job or not doing it!

FC
I think you have another letter to write to the Minister! Well thank you for all you are doing. – especially in getting communication with Minister. Making it known you are helping and supporting him. Adding ideas to the problems at hand and supporting him in getting to the situation where we have a solution for everything.

We want our distinguished clients to know that as an office here and as a team we are working very hard. We are putting pressure on the government. It is constructive criticism. We tell them “off” when they are doing something wrong. But we praise them and are happy to see that the the Minister is going to release 20,000 Title Deeds by the end of 2010. Already 1,000 have been issued since this Minister started. He is doing his best. My job here is to help my own clients and at this stage I feel it is the right thing to do to give him my feelings, the feelings of my associates and my colleagues. Push him. Push the members of the parliament because they have an important role to play and I want EVERYBODY to start doing the same. Our job is not to destroy the Cyprus economy. If this happens we will all face that music. We support the Ministers and support the government and help them all to take the right decisions and this is what we are doing as an office.

The Cyprus Title Deeds Video can be viewed here.

Many regular and new clients of Kouzali will know of the high-profile lobbying work of Giovanni Kouzalis with the Cyprus government over the critical issue of Cyprus title deeds. There are over 130,000 properties in the Republic of Cyprus which have not yet been issued with title deeds – a situation which has the potential, if not rectified, to encourage an unnecessary and undeserved downtrend in the Cyprus property market.

In this, the first of a series of new interviews conducted by Freddie Cerva of FC Advance Solutions Ltd, Giovanni makes clear why he is willing to invest the resources of his legal team into working to speed up change by lobbying the government and the civil service to resolve this problem.

The full transcript of the interview is available here – what follows is a summary.

By a relentless process of weekly letter writing to the Minister of the Interior, (Mr. Sylikiotis), as well as lobbying other government bodies and local members of parliament, Giovanni has placed his company in a unique position of offering ongoing advice to the government and helping to disseminate information about new developments to the public. His aim:

“We will keep pushing to get the best for our clients. We want to safeguard the market and make it better”. Giovanni Kouzalis

Here are the key points from his interview:

* Change is possible. The pending legislation has been confirmed by the Minister of the Interior as being retrospective – that is, applicable to all those in the past who have bought properties.
* The Minister has also confirmed he is considering producing a Black List of Property Developers who are not co-operating with the authorities on the title deeds issue.
* 20,000 title deeds will be issued by the end of 2010. Since Mr. Sylikiotis has taken over, more than 1,000 new title deeds have already been issued.

To those who may be critical of his very direct approach with the government he says:

“I have nothing personal against the Minister or the government. Our job is not to destroy the Cyprus economy. If this happens, we will all face the music. We support the Ministers and support the government and help them all to take the right decisions. This is what we are doing as an office. We will continue to push the Minister, trying to get what is best for our clients”.

Giovanni wishes to offer advice, reassurance and information to his clients and to all those involved in the Cyprus property market, in order to lay to rest rumour and speculation and to safeguard the property market. He is keen to stress that whilst there is still a long way to go, there is a lot of good news too! He is a man unafraid of controversy who is willing, in a constructive manner, to criticise both the government and the civil service where necessary, in order to bring about the much needed change.

However, Giovanni points out there is far more that needs to be done than simply approving the correct leglislation. In Cyprus, civil servants, once in place, cannot be removed – hence there is a massive inertia in the system whereby incompetent or unmotivated officials frequently act as a block to change.

Giovanni is calling for a modernisation of the system, bringing the system in line with the standards expected in commercial organisations. This would involve penalties being imposed on those who are not efficient, the “naming and shaming” of those who are incompetent and the rewarding of those who are doing well. In addition, he criticises the service for frequently reducing the number of staff to deal with title deed applications rather than increasing the numbers!

“We want Civil Servants punished who had the opportunity, the means and the facilities to do their job properly but were not doing this”.

The letters being exchanged with the Minister are currently in Greek. A long recent communication is in the process of being translated and will be available on the Kouzali website in the near future.

During the interview, Giovanni laughs as he remembers a telephone call to his mobile ‘phone from the Minister. Sylikiotis was initially puzzled by the volume and unsure of the purpose of the letters but, following reassuring personal telephone exchanges, has now become so convinced of the positive and helpful nature of Giovanni’s company that as a result the ministerial office and correspondence has been opened up totally to Kouzalis in order that the company can have a positive role in helping communicate the Ministerial message to the public.

Giovanni has advice to offer the individual property purchaser. “We think that every single client who is buying in Cyprus – since they have both rights and responsibilities – should contact their Cyprus MP and put forward their worries, anxieties and issues”.

Δημοσιεύτηκε 29 Ιουλίου, 2009

 Έκδοση Τίτλων ιδιοκτησίας για Κύπριους και Αλλοδαπούς αγοραστές και άλλοι

Ο Υπουργός Εσωτερικών κ. Νεοκλής Συλικιώτης σε συνέντευξη Τύπου με θέμα: «Μια ολοκληρωμένη μεταρρύθμιση για την επίλυση των προβλημάτων σε σχέση με την έκδοση τίτλων ιδιοκτησίας για Κύπριους και αλλοδαπούς αγοραστές και άλλους».

 ΔΗΜΟΣΙΟΓΡΑΦΙΚΗ ΔΙΑΣΚΕΨΗ ΤΟΥ ΥΠΟΥΡΓΟΥ ΕΣΩΤΕΡΙΚΩΝ Κ. ΝΕΟΚΛΗ ΣΥΛΙΚΙΩΤΗ ΜΙΑ ΟΛΟΚΛΗΡΩΜΕΝΗ ΜΕΤΑΡΡΥΘΜΙΣΗ ΓΙΑ ΤΗΝ ΕΠΙΛΥΣΗ ΤΩΝ ΠΡΟΒΛΗΜΑΤΩΝ ΕΚΔΟΣΗΣ ΕΚΣΥΓΧΡΟΝΙΣΜΕΝΩΝ ΤΙΤΛΩΝ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ.

Φίλες – φίλοι Καλή σας Ημέρα,

Σας ευχαριστώ για την εδώ παρουσία σας. Στο Υπουργείο Εσωτερικών συντελείται μια πολύ σημαντική μεταρρύθμιση αυτή την περίοδο. Στόχος μας είναι να δώσουμε λύσεις στο πολύ γνωστό σε όλους μας πρόβλημα έκδοσης τίτλων ιδιοκτησίας. Για να επιτύχουμε σε αυτό το στόχο θα πρέπει να προχωρήσουμε στη ριζική αναμόρφωση του όλου συστήματος αδειοδότησης και έγκρισης οικοδομών, και εγγραφής και έκδοσης τίτλων. Αυτό θα κάνουμε. Σας καλέσαμε λοιπόν σήμερα εδώ για να σας καταστήσουμε κοινωνούς αυτής της σημαντικής προσπάθειας που καταβάλλουμε, και μέσω εσάς να επικοινωνήσουμε αυτό το μήνυμα σε όλους, Κύπριους και αλλοδαπούς αγοραστές ακίνητης περιουσίας στην Κύπρο, πως το νερό έχει μπει στο αυλάκι και πολύ σύντομα θα αρχίσουν να αποκτούν τίτλους ιδιοκτησίας.

Το θέμα που έχουμε σήμερα μπροστά μας να αντιμετωπίσουμε το κληρονομήσαμε από το παρελθόν. Είναι ένα ιδιαίτερα περίπλοκο και σύνθετο πρόβλημα. Η ραγδαία οικοδομική ανάπτυξη στην Κύπρο, σε συνάρτηση με την αδυναμία του συστήματος να προλάβει τη δημιουργία οικοδομικών παρατυπιών και τις περίπλοκες και χρονοβόρες διαδικασίες διαχείρισης τέτοιων παρατυπιών, είχαν ως αποτέλεσμα περίπου 130.000 μονάδες (κατοικίες, διαμερίσματα, ξενοδοχεία κλπ) να μην έχουν τίτλους ιδιοκτησίας. Για 20.000 περίπου από αυτές τις μονάδες έχουν κατατεθεί στο Κτηματολόγιο αιτήσεις για έκδοση τίτλων και ελπίζουμε πως μέχρι τον Ιούνιο του 2010 αυτοί οι τίτλοι θα εκδοθούν, έστω και αν απαιτηθεί η ενίσχυση των ομάδων που ασχολούνται αποκλειστικά με το θέμα αυτό.

Συνεκτιμώντας όλα τα δεδομένα, το Υπουργείο Εσωτερικών, έχει προχωρήσει σε ενδελεχή αξιολόγηση της κατάστασης και έχει καταλήξει στο συμπέρασμα πως για να υπάρχει η δυνατότητα λυσιτελούς προσέγγισης σε αυτό το πρόβλημα, απαιτούνται τολμηρές και ολοκληρωμένες λύσεις, και όχι αποσπασματικές ρυθμίσεις που θα έχουν την τύχη προηγούμενων προσπαθειών. Στο πλαίσιο αυτό βάλαμε μπροστά μια σειρά από δράσεις.

• Καταρχήν το Υπουργείο, σε στενή συνεργασία με το Τμήμα Κτηματολογίου και Χωρομετρίας εντόπισε όλες τις αιτήσεις που εκκρεμούν στο τμήμα για έκδοση ξεχωριστών τίτλων ή εκσυγχρονισμών τίτλων ιδιοκτησίας.
• Στη συνέχεια δημιούργησε ομάδες σε όλα τα Επαρχιακά Κτηματολογικά Γραφεία που εργάζονται αποκλειστικά για την έκδοση των τίτλων. Από τις εργασίες αυτών των ομάδων ήδη έχουμε τα πρώτα απτά αποτελέσματα. Ενδεικτικά σας αναφέρω πως για τον Ιούνιο έχουν εκδοθεί περίπου 500 τίτλοι ιδιοκτησίας, ενώ κατά τον Ιούλιο αναμένεται ότι το Κτηματολόγιο θα εκδώσει μέχρι 1000 τίτλους ιδιοκτησίας. Ο ρυθμός έκδοσης τίτλων επιταχύνεται με την εξοικείωση των ομάδων που έχουν δημιουργηθεί με το θέμα. 
• Παράλληλα, το Υπουργείο Εσωτερικών έχει επεξεργασθεί, σε στενή συνεργασία με τα Τμήματα Πολεοδομίας και Οικήσεως και Κτηματολογίου και Χωρομετρίας, πέντε ιδιαίτερα σημαντικά και καινοτόμα νομοσχέδια για την τροποποίηση των νομοθεσιών:

·        περί Πολεοδομίας και Χωροταξίας,

·        περί Ρύθμισης Οδών και Οικοδομών,

·        περί Ακίνητης Ιδιοκτησίας (Διακατοχή, Εγγραφή και Εκτίμηση), και

·        περί Πώλησης Γης (Ειδική Εκτέλεση)

·        περί Συμβάσεων. 

Οι νομοθετικές αυτές ρυθμίσεις, επί της ουσίας θα μας δώσουν εκείνα τα απαραίτητα εργαλεία δουλειάς που θα μας επιτρέψουν να προχωρήσουμε με ταχείς ρυθμούς στην έκδοση τίτλων ιδιοκτησίας. Μια εξέλιξη που παράλληλα θα σημάνει και την οικονομική ενίσχυση των κρατικών ταμείων.

Οι κεντρικοί άξονες της ολοκληρωμένης αυτής προσέγγισης είναι οι ακόλουθοι:

·        Η παροχή μιας λογικής δυνατότητας νομιμοποίησης μεγάλου ποσοστού μη εξουσιοδοτημένων τροποποιήσεων σε υφιστάμενες οικοδομές, που έχουν γίνει με πρωτοβουλία είτε του ιδιοκτήτη είτε αγοραστή τμήματος ενιαίας ανάπτυξης. Η δυνατότητα αυτή θα ασκείται αποκλειστικά σε περιπτώσεις που δεν επηρεάζουν τις ανέσεις ή τα δικαιώματα περιοίκων ή συνιδιοκτητών, και η νομιμοποίηση θα εγκρίνεται αφού ταυτόχρονα καταβληθούν τα αναγκαία αντισταθμιστικά οφέλη, που θα ισούνται με την αξία των όποιων επεκτάσεων εγκρίνονται. Στο σημείο αυτό οφείλω να διευκρινίσω, για να αποφευχθεί οποιαδήποτε παρερμηνεία των προθέσεων μας, πως η νέα προσέγγιση δεν αποσκοπεί στη με οποιονδήποτε τρόπο ενθάρρυνση της επανάληψης της παρανομίας στο μέλλον, αλλά αποκλειστικά στην επίλυση αδιεξόδων που έχουν ήδη δημιουργηθεί διαχρονικά, με ευθύνες διαφόρων προσώπων και για διάφορους λόγους.

·        Ανάλογα με την έκταση της επέκτασης ή τροποποίησης της οικοδομής, η διαδικασία νομιμοποίησης  θα μπορεί να διεκπεραιωθεί είτε από την Πολεοδομική Αρχή, είτε κατευθείαν από την Οικοδομική Αρχή, με την παρεμβολή τριμελών Επιτροπών που θα αποφασίζουν αναφορικά με το θέμα. Ειδικά σε ότι αφορά τις επεκτάσεις που αφορούν πρόσθετα εμβαδά, προκαταρκτικά η Οικοδομική Αρχή θα είναι δυνατό να εγκρίνει επεκτάσεις μέχρι 10% και η Πολεοδομική Αρχή επεκτάσεις από 10 – 30%. Οι Επιτροπές αυτές μπορεί να είναι περισσότερες της μιας, για παράδειγμα μία σε κάθε Επαρχία, ώστε να αποφευχθεί το ενδεχόμενο συσσώρευσης πολλών τέτοιων περιπτώσεων σε ένα μοναδικό όργανο.

·        Οι Επιτροπές αυτές θα μπορούν να εγκρίνουν και καθορισμένης κλίμακας και σημασίας αποκλίσεις από τα ισχύοντα πολεοδομικά δεδομένα σε κάθε επιμέρους περιοχή. Για παράδειγμα, μικρές υπερβάσεις στον ισχύοντα συντελεστή δόμησης ή στο ποσοστό κάλυψης ή μικρότερες από τις καθοριζόμενες αποστάσεις από τα όρια τεμαχίου ή οικοπέδου θα μπορούν να εγκριθούν, νοουμένου ότι δεν επηρεάζονται αρνητικά οι ανέσεις και τα δικαιώματα τρίτων.

·        Στα νομοσχέδια που ετοιμάσθηκαν δεν καθορίζονται προθεσμίες μέσα στις οποίες  πρέπει να υποβληθεί αίτηση για τη νομιμοποίηση των επεκτάσεων ή τροποποιήσεων. Να τονίσω όμως εμφαντικά εδώ πως η νέα δυνατότητα θα παρέχεται για υφιστάμενες μόνο οικοδομές και δεν θα καλύπτει παρανομίες που θα γίνουν στο μέλλον.

·        Εισαγωγή της υποχρέωσης έκδοσης άδειας διαχωρισμού, μαζί με την άδεια οικοδομής, σε περιπτώσεις οικοδομών με περισσότερες της μιας αυτοτελείς μονάδες, με εκ των προτέρων καθορισμό των κοινόχρηστων χώρων με αποκλειστικά δικαιώματα χρήσης για κάθε μονάδα.

·        Εισαγωγή εξουσίας που ασκείται από την αρμόδια Οικοδομική Αρχή ώστε να χειρίζεται και ορισμένα θέματα που δεν είναι σύμφωνα με το Σχέδιο Ανάπτυξης, αλλά καλύπτονται από Γενικό ή Ειδικό Διάταγμα Ανάπτυξης, υπό προϋποθέσεις, χωρίς να είναι αναγκαία η επαναφορά των αιτήσεων στην Πολεοδομική Αρχή.

·        Με βάση τα νομοσχέδια, αποδίδεται για πρώτη φορά στις αρμόδιες αρχές η εξουσία να αναλάβουν αυτεπάγγελτα την πρωτοβουλία για την έκδοση αδειών. Για παράδειγμα, σε περίπτωση που ο επιχειρηματίας ανάπτυξης δεν υποβάλλει τις αναγκαίες αιτήσεις για έγκριση ορισμένων παρατυπιών ή επικαλείται παρατυπίες αγοραστών ως άλλοθι για να μην προχωρήσει με την έκδοση πιστοποιητικού έγκρισης ή τίτλου ιδιοκτησίας, η αρμόδια αρχή θα μπορεί, ενδεχομένως μετά από παραστάσεις αγοραστών, να προχωρεί αυτεπάγγελτα στην εξέταση της οικοδομής και στην έκδοση διαφόρων αδειών ή εγκρίσεων, με ή χωρίς ειδικές σημειώσεις.

·        Μια νέα πολύ σημαντική καινοτομία αφορά την εισαγωγή τριών τύπων τίτλων ιδιοκτησίας, αντί του ενός που υπήρχε μέχρι σήμερα. Ο πλήρης τίτλος θα έχει την υπόσταση που είναι γνωστή ως σήμερα, ο ατελής τίτλος θα εκδίδεται με σημειώσεις αναφορικά με μη εξουσιοδοτημένες επεκτάσεις ή τροποποιήσεις σε σχέση με εκδομένη άδεια, οι οποίες είναι επουσιώδεις ή σε περιπτώσεις που δεν είναι δυνατό να καθορισθούν τα τμήματα ιδιοκτησίας για τα οποία έχει αποκλειστικά δικαιώματα μονάδα της ενιαίας ανάπτυξης, και ο περιορισμένος τίτλος θα έχει σημειώσεις αναφορικά με μη εξουσιοδοτημένες ουσιώδεις τροποποιήσεις ή επεκτάσεις. Για τον τελευταίο τύπο τίτλου θα υπάρχουν περιορισμοί στις δυνατότητες πραγματοποίησης δικαιοπραξιών. Παράλληλα, η ιεραρχία τίτλων ιδιοκτησίας θα είναι δυναμική, και τίτλοι θα μπορούν να αναβαθμίζονται ή υποβαθμίζονται, ανάλογα με τις εξελίξεις στις οικοδομές, διαχρονικά.

Για παράδειγμα, σε περίπτωση που σε μια πολυκατοικία δεν είναι γνωστά στο Τμήμα Κτηματολογίου και Χωρομετρίας ποια αποθήκη ή ποιος χώρος στάθμευσης θα εγγραφεί σε συγκεκριμένο διαμέρισμα, σύμφωνα με το αγοραπωλητήριο έγγραφο, θα μπορεί να εκδοθεί ατελής τίτλος για το ίδιο το διαμέρισμα, με εκκρεμούντα θέματα την τιτλοποίηση της συγκεκριμένης αποθήκης ή του συγκεκριμένου χώρου στάθμευσης. Το πλεονέκτημα αυτής της προσέγγισης έγκειται στο ότι ο αγοραστής θα αποκτήσει τίτλο ιδιοκτησίας για το ίδιο το διαμέρισμα, το οποίο θα μπορεί να αξιοποιεί όπως ο ίδιος κρίνει, μέχρι να ρυθμισθεί και το θέμα τις αποθήκης ή του χώρου στάθμευσης.

·        Η εισαγωγή της δυνατότητας επιβολής προστίμων σε περίπτωση ιδιοκτητών που είναι απρόθυμοι να υλοποιήσουν τις υποχρεώσεις τους, ώστε να καταστεί δυνατή η έκδοση τίτλων ιδιοκτησίας στο όνομα αγοραστών που έχουν εκπληρώσει τις δικές τους υποχρεώσεις, και δημοσιοποίησης των εταιρειών που κατ’ επανάληψη επιδεικνύουν τέτοια συμπεριφορά, ώστε κάθε μελλοντικός αγοραστής να γνωρίζει την αξιοπιστία και τις πραγματικές δυνατότητες των διαφόρων εταιριών που δραστηριοποιούνται στην ανάπτυξη της γης.

·        Καθίσταται υποχρεωτική η κατάθεση έγγραφης σύμβασης πώλησης στο Κτηματολόγιο, με τον καθορισμό των συγκεκριμένων τμημάτων της οικοδομής που αφορούν στη σύμβαση.

Τα εν λόγω νομοσχέδια τώρα βρίσκονται στη Νομική Υπηρεσία για νομοτεχνικό έλεγχο, και παράλληλα έχουν καταχωρηθεί στην ιστοσελίδα του Υπουργείου Εσωτερικών (www.moi.gov.cy) για να μπορεί οποιοσδήποτε  να έχει πρόσβαση σε αυτά. Έτσι δίνουμε την ευκαιρία σε πολυάριθμες Αρχές και οργανωμένα σύνολα επαγγελματιών στο χώρο της ανάπτυξης να τα μελετήσουν και μέχρι το τέλος Αυγούστου να μας δώσουν τις εισηγήσεις τους. Στόχος μας είναι τα νομοσχέδια να κατατεθούν στη Βουλή με την έναρξη των εργασιών της στο τέλος Σεπτεμβρίου και μέχρι το τέλος του χρόνου να εγκριθούν από το Σώμα.

Προγραμματίζω να συναντηθώ με όλα τα Κοινοβουλευτικά Κόμματα, ώστε να εξηγήσω τις εισηγήσεις της Κυβέρνησης και να δώσω διευκρινίσεις όπου χρειάζεται με την ελπίδα πως με τον τρόπο αυτό θα επιταχυνθεί η συζήτηση στη Βουλή των Αντιπροσώπων και η ψήφιση τους.

Κλείνοντας, επιτρέψετε μου να επισημάνω δύο πολύ σημαντικά ζητήματα.

• Είναι γνωστό ότι εδώ και καιρό, και όχι τυχαία θα έλεγα, ξένα κυρίως μέσα ενημέρωσης έχουν ξεκινήσει μια προσπάθεια δυσφήμισης της Κύπρου ως χώρο για επενδύσεις στην οικοδομική βιομηχανία. Προς αντιμετώπιση αυτής της κατάστασης, έχουμε αναλάβει μια εκστρατεία ενημέρωσης των ξένων για το τι πραγματικά κάνουμε για επίλυση του προβλήματος αυτού.
• Θα πρέπει να γίνει σαφές πως ανεξάρτητα αν κάποιος διαθέτει τίτλο ιδιοκτησίας ή όχι, το ιδιοκτησιακό του καθεστώς δεν μπορεί να αμφισβητηθεί από κανένα και ποτέ, εφόσον ο αγοραστής ακινήτου έχει καταθέσει στο Κτηματολόγιο το αγοραπωλητήριο έγγραφο.

Σας ευχαριστώ. Είμαι στη διάθεση σας για ερωτήσεις.

Νεοκλής Συλικιώτης

Υπουργός Εσωτερικών

REPLY BY MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR MR NEOKLIS SYLIKIOTIS – 17.06.2009

It is obvious from the content of the question as well as from other recent reports in the Press and on the Internet that the statement by the Minister of Interior has been misinterpreted as regards the measures the Government is willing to take for resolving the problems that many buyers of holiday homes or other buildings in Cyprus are facing.

The Minister of Interior had stated that with the modifications that are in the process of elaboration, the content of immovable properties sale contracts that have already been signed between sellers and buyers cannot be altered. This fact should be self-evident and not surprising.

The Interior Minister has not stated that the measures that are being studied will not concern those who have already bought houses or other buildings. On the contrary, the measures that are being worked out by the competent Services of the Interior Ministry and concern the amendment of four legislations are aimed primarily at abolishing the full dependency of issuing separate title deeds for each housing unit at housing blocks or buildings from the initiatives of the original owner and seller. Measures will be introduced which will allow the competent authorities to intervene independently in cases where the original owner-seller is indifferent or refuses to implement his obligations regarding the issuing of separate title deeds and additionally, various counter-motives will be provided in order to avert such behaviours.

Moreover, the measures, for which the study is almost complete, entail new regulations allowing the legalisation of some irregularities made to buildings during their construction by imposing appropriate countermeasures, issuing title deeds of various types – depending on the type of problems each building is facing – and other additional powers to the competent Authorities in order to facilitate buyers to evade the various difficulties they might come across in trying to acquire a title deed for the housing unit they bought.

Lastly it is noted that despite the complaints expressed by various buyers, unfortunately there are very few cases where a buyer has sought recourse to the courts against a seller who is not fulfilling their contractual obligations as these are outlined in immovable properties sale contracts. Consequently, the protest of a buyer is not always fully justified, especially when that buyer has signed contracts, without particular study and vigilance, without having secured legal advice for protecting his own rights and without having sought recourse to the courts against the seller, when the latter does not fulfil his own obligations.

The Ministry of Interior will oversee the amelioration of the legislation. However, the buyer must always act with vigilance and secure his own legal advice so that he protects his rights and interests.

17.6.09

TITLE DEEDS

In Cyprus, Title Deeds, which are also, know as “Certificates of Registration of Immovable Property”, are formal documents that serve as evidence of property ownership.  Each piece of immovable property has an associated Title Deed which contains information such as its registered owner, its size, its location and the Land’s Office reference.

As the legal ownership of immovable property is denoted by its Title Deeds, your contract of sale must provide for the transfer of ownership and registration of the property in your name and the contract deposited for “Specific Performance” at the branch of the Land Registry – the District Lands’ Office in which the property is located.

CYPRUS TITLE DEEDS

Transfer of the ownership is a process involving the Cypriot Land Registry Office, who issues all the property title deeds.

When the title deeds are issued, they are in the name of the buyer and filed in confidential government archives and are never mane public or ever published.

In Cyprus the title deeds can be issued within 1 year and/or up to 6 years, according to the district area.

In order to transfer ownership of a property into your name, the applicable Real Estate transfer tax needs to be paid.