Cyprus property lawyers

Our Cyprus property lawyers in Limassol act for buyers and sellers of residential and commercial property. The team is led by Marios Konstantinou, admitted to the Cyprus Bar in 2012.

We handle purchases, sales, leases and property disputes, and we act for clients who live abroad under a power of attorney. The firm has practised in Limassol since 1983.

This page covers the Republic of Cyprus. Property in the areas outside government control sits under a separate registration system, and none of the rules below apply to it.

Our legal services

George K. Konstantinou Law Firm offers transparent fee structures, including fixed-fee options for many standard property law services.

Property transactions and conveyancing

• Due diligence before property purchase.
• Drafting and reviewing property reservation and sale agreements.
• Providing legal advice on real estate procedures for expats.
• Power of attorney preparation for real estate transactions.
• Land Registry searches and registration.
• Real estate gift transfers between family members.
• Conveyancing for selling or purchasing homes.
• Independent advice for buyers dealing with a developer or an agent.

Permissions to buy property in Cyprus and international clients

• Obtaining the necessary permits for non-EU citizens to acquire Cypriot property.
• Online consultations and services for international clients.
• Obtaining permanent residency in Cyprus through real estate investment.
• Assistance with bank account opening and AML-compliant fund transfers.

Leases and property disputes

• Advice and preparation for leases and rental agreements.
• Guidance on property management and tenant disputes.
• Legal representation in property disputes.

Financial and corporate property services

• Advice on mortgages and home loans offered by Cypriot banks.
• Advice on the taxes and fees of a purchase or sale: VAT, transfer fees, capital gains tax and the 0.4% levy, with stamp duty for contracts signed before 2026.
• Reduced property VAT applications.
• Company formation in Cyprus for holding or managing property.

Whether you need a Cyprus conveyancing lawyer for buying or selling a home or representation in a real estate dispute, contact George K. Konstantinou Law Firm for a complimentary, no-obligation consultation.

What are the fees of our property lawyers?

Our minimum legal fee is €2,500 plus VAT. It covers the purchase or the sale of one property with a price of up to €250,000. Above that price, the fee depends on the work the transaction needs, and we quote it once we know the details.

For a purchase, the fee covers:

• advice on the purchase procedure
• due diligence on the property, including the title deed and a Land Registry search for mortgages and other burdens
• drafting or reviewing the reservation agreement
• drafting or reviewing the contract of sale, with advice on its terms
• depositing the contract at the District Lands Office
• the application for permission to acquire the property, where you need one
• drafting a power of attorney and acting under it, where you need one
• the transfer of the title deed to you, once the seller has the deed issued
• dealing with the seller or the seller's lawyers
• if you take a mortgage, a simple review of the loan documents for the bank, not an in-depth one

A sale or the purchase of a new build changes some of these items. Contact us to discuss your transaction.

Can foreigners buy property in Cyprus?

Purchase of Cyprus property by EU citizens

Citizens of EU and EEA countries need no permission to buy property in Cyprus. They buy on the same terms as Cypriot citizens, with no limit on the number of properties they register in their name.

Purchase of Cyprus property by foreigners (non-EU citizens)

Buyers who are not EU or EEA citizens can buy property in Cyprus, but they need permission to acquire it. The power sits with the Council of Ministers under Cap. 109, and in practice the District Administration of the district where the property is deals with the application, on form COMM 145.

We prepare and file the application for our clients. No government fee is charged, and the Ministry of Interior puts the processing time at two to three weeks.

The permission has limits. In practice the District Administration grants a buyer, or a married couple together, permission for one of two options:

• A plot of up to 4,014 m² (three donums) on which to build a home to live in.
• Up to two units: two homes, or one home and a shop of up to 100 m², or one home and an office of up to 250 m².

The foreign wife of a Cypriot citizen needs no permission, as long as a court has not separated the couple. The foreign husband of a Cypriot citizen does need it, because the Acquisition of Immovable Property (Aliens) Law, Cap. 109, names wives only. The Ombudsman found the difference discriminatory in May 2025, and the law has not been amended.

The process of buying property in Cyprus

These are the steps we handle for buyers. Our guide to buying property in Cyprus as a foreigner covers each one in more depth, with the costs.

Step 1. Due diligence

Once you have chosen a property, appoint your lawyer before you sign anything, and choose one who does not act, and whose firm does not act, for the seller or the developer in the same sale. Our due diligence covers the following:

• Confirm with the Land Registry, through a search certificate, whether the property carries a mortgage or any other burden and whether the owner is under a prohibition.
• If the only burden is a mortgage and the owner is under no prohibition, the lawyer asks the lender and the seller for the Type A declaration described in Step 3 before you commit, so that the mortgage is released once 95% of the price is paid into the seller's account. If the lender will not sign, the contract can only be deposited with the buyer's own Type C declaration, without that release route.
• Negotiate the payment terms.
• For a property under construction, check that the planning and building permits have been issued, and attach the architectural plans and specifications to the contract.
• In the case of a land purchase, verify the building zones (the number of square meters you can build on) and check that the intended use of any planned building is permitted. Confirm that utilities can be connected.

Step 2. Reservation deposit and agreement

• Upon signing the reservation agreement and payment of a reservation deposit, the property is taken off the market for a specific period until the contract of sale is prepared and the parties are ready to finalise the transaction.
• Have your lawyer read the reservation agreement before you pay the deposit, including when the money comes back to you.

Step 3. Contract of sale

• Once all the preliminary steps above are made, the buyer and the seller sign a contract of sale.
• If you are abroad, we can complete the purchase for you under a power of attorney. In Cyprus a certifying officer or the community leader certifies your signature; a certifying officer's fee is capped at €5 for a document of one or two pages with one signatory.
• Abroad you sign in person at a Cyprus embassy or consulate, which certifies the signature for a consular fee.
• If you are not an EU or EEA citizen, our lawyer applies to the District Administration for permission once the contract is signed. The application goes in on form COMM 145 with a copy of the signed contract.
• The seller has to attach to the contract a Land Registry search certificate dated within five working days of the signing.

When the property carries a mortgage or an earlier contract

Where the only burdens on the property are a mortgage or an earlier contract already deposited, and the owner is not under a prohibition, the contract can only be deposited with one of two written declarations, in forms set out in the Specific Performance Law.

• In the Type A declaration each lender and the seller agree, with the buyer's signed acknowledgement, that once 95% of the contract price, counting any deposit paid at signing, is paid into the seller's bank account named in the declaration, the lender issues a payment certificate, the Type B, and releases the mortgage. If the lender does not release the mortgage, the buyer takes the Type B certificate, signed and sealed by the lender, to the District Lands Office, and the Director transfers the property to the buyer.
• In the Type C declaration the buyer asks for the contract to be deposited without the Type A, which means going without that protection.

Our lawyer explains which one fits your purchase before you sign.

Step 4. Depositing the contract at the District Lands Office

• Once the contract is signed, our lawyer deposits it at the District Lands Office. The law allows six months from the signing to do this. Where no seller is yet registered as owner of the land, the six months run from that registration. The deposit protects the buyer's right to have the property transferred to them, including where the separate title deed does not exist yet.
• For contracts signed on or after January 1, 2026, no stamp duty is payable. For contracts signed before 2026, the correct duty is paid to the Tax Department before registration.

Step 5. Tax clearance

Where the property already has a title deed, the seller needs a tax clearance certificate before the transfer. This is Form N.313, issued by the Tax Department once any capital gains tax and the 0.4% levy are paid. Our lawyer handles the application for the sellers we act for.

The seller then needs certificates that nothing is owed, from the municipality or community council for municipal taxes and from the District Local Government Organisation for sewerage fees. Water fees are certified by that organisation or by the community council.

Step 6. Transfer of the title deed

• If the seller has a title deed (ownership certificate) for the property, the transfer of the title deed in the name of the new owner can be done immediately. Typically, this is the case when buying a resale.
• If the property is brand new, the seller (developer) usually does not have a separate title deed yet. Until it is issued, the deposited contract protects the buyer's right to the transfer.

Step 7. Land Registry procedure for transfer

The seller or our property lawyer needs to submit to the Land Registry the following documents:

• The appointment arrangement form, in duplicate
• Form N.270, the declaration of transfer
• Form N.313, the tax clearance certificate
• Form N.314A1, one for each separate unit
• Certificates of payment from the municipality or community council and from the District Local Government Organisation
• Copies of passports or IDs of the parties, with the originals shown on the day
• Power of attorney and form Δ.Ε.307, where a party is represented
• The lender's consent or the release of the mortgage, where the property is mortgaged, and the release of any other burden or prohibition
• The permission to acquire, where the buyer needs one

The District Lands Office checks the documents first. Once they are complete, it sets a date and time for the transfer and notifies the parties.

Both parties attend the appointment, in person or through a proxy holding a power of attorney with the signature duly certified, and the District Lands Office processes the transfer at that appointment.

Property taxes and fees in Cyprus

A buyer pays either VAT or a transfer fee, depending on whether the property is new. A seller pays capital gains tax on any gain and a 0.4% levy on the price. We set these costs out for each client before the contract is signed.

Property transfer fees

The buyer pays a transfer fee to the Department of Lands and Surveys when the title deed is transferred. It is charged in bands on the value of the property:

Property value	Rate	After the 50% reduction
First €85,000	3%	1.5%
From €85,001 to €170,000	5%	2.5%
Over €170,000	8%	4%

No transfer fee is charged where the sale carries VAT. On a sale without VAT the fee is halved, so a €300,000 resale costs €8,600 in transfer fees rather than €17,200. Our page on title deeds explains the transfer itself.

VAT on property

VAT at 19% applies when a developer or other business sells a new building before it is first used, and to sales of undeveloped building land made in the course of a business. Buildings whose planning application was filed before 1 May 2004 are exempt. Resales of buildings already occupied by an owner or a tenant carry no VAT, and transfer fees fall due on them instead.

A reduced rate of 5% covers the first 130 m² of a main home up to €350,000, provided the whole transaction stays at or below €475,000 and the buildable area at or below 190 m². The buyer has to live in it as their main home for ten years.

Projects under the old VAT rules

Projects with a planning permit obtained or applied for by 31 October 2023 could keep the old rules if the declaration was filed within three years of the 2023 amending law coming into force.

The Tax Commissioner can examine, until 31 December 2026, applications delayed by the planning authorities. The full conditions, including the rules for buyers with a disability, are on our page on the 5% VAT scheme for property.

Stamp duty

Law 239(I)/2025 abolished stamp duty from 1 January 2026. For contracts signed on or after January 1, 2026, no stamp duty is payable. For contracts signed before 2026, the correct duty is paid to the Tax Department before registration.

Capital gains tax

Capital gains tax is charged at 20% on the gain from selling property in Cyprus. It reaches shares too. Shares in a company that owns Cyprus property directly are caught whatever part of its value the property makes up. Since 1 January 2026, shares in a company that holds Cyprus property through other companies are caught where at least 20% of their market value comes from that property, down from 50%.

Where a tax treaty with the seller's country lets Cyprus tax such shares only at 50% or more, the treaty prevails. Gains on shares listed on a regulated market of a recognised stock exchange are not taxed. The gain is the sale price less the purchase cost adjusted for inflation, with improvements and the costs of buying and selling deducted.

Lifetime exemptions for individual sellers

From 1 January 2026 an individual seller can set a higher lifetime exemption against the gain: €150,000 on a main home the owner has lived in for at least five years, or €30,000 on any other sale.

A farmer selling agricultural land gets €50,000. Where the home stands on more than 1,500 m² of land, the share of the gain from the extra land is taxed.

On a second or later sale of a main home the owner must have lived in it for at least ten years, and no exemption applies if it is sold one year or more after the owner moved out. The main-home exemption cannot be combined with the other two, and the overall lifetime limit is €150,000.

Transfers on death and family gifts

Transfers on death are outside the tax, and so are gifts within the family up to relatives of the third degree. Our page on the Cyprus tax system has the rest of the rules, and we calculate the tax for the sellers we act for.

The 0.4% levy on property sales

The seller pays a levy of 0.4% of the sale price under the law on the Central Body for the Equal Distribution of Burdens. It has applied since 22 February 2021 to sales of property that has a general valuation from the Department of Lands and Surveys. The Tax Commissioner collects it and issues the proof of payment the transfer needs, and Form N.313 covers it.

Inheritance tax

Cyprus has no inheritance tax. Estate duty was abolished for deaths on or after 1 January 2000.

Property lawyers in Limassol, acting across Cyprus

Our office is in Limassol, and we act on property in every district of Cyprus, including Nicosia, Paphos, Larnaca, Protaras and Ayia Napa.

We handle every step of a purchase, from the first title check to the transfer at the District Lands Office. The first consultation is free, in person at our office or online.