Buying off-plan property in Cyprus

The short answer

• Check before you sign: planning and building permits, the developer's past projects, the title of the plot and any mortgage on it.
• Deposit the contract at the Land Registry within 6 months of signing, under Law 81(I)/2011. It costs €50 and blocks any other sale or charge of your unit.
• Pay in stages tied to construction, ideally with a bank guarantee or escrow. Neither is required by law, so ask for them in the contract.
• Use your own lawyer, not the developer's.
• Settle VAT before the first payment: whether 5% or 19% applies, and how instalments are invoiced while your application is pending.

The risks

• Delay. Completion slips. Without a firm delivery date and a penalty clause in the contract, you have little recourse.
• The developer fails. If a developer becomes insolvent mid-build, buyers without a guarantee can end up as unsecured creditors.
• A mortgage on the land. A bank's registered mortgage on the plot ranks ahead of later rights. Your unit must be released from it before you can get a title deed.
• Building outside the permits. If the finished building differs from its permits, the Certificate of Final Approval is held up, and so is your title deed.
• Changes to the home. Plans, specification and finishes that are loosely described can change.
• Rules change while you wait. The VAT definition of a new building changed on 1 September 2026, and in September 2026 the government was drafting limits on property purchases by non-EU buyers. Ask your lawyer how a change would affect your contract.

Checks before you sign

Planning and building permits

Ask for the planning permit and the building permit, with their numbers and dates. A home sold before the building permit is issued carries more risk; the permit dates also decide which VAT rules apply. Your lawyer checks that the plans you are shown match the approved drawings.

The developer's track record

Look at what the developer has finished. Ask which past buildings have their Certificate of Final Approval and separate title deeds, and talk to people who bought there. Your lawyer can search the company at the Registrar of Companies and check for court cases and charges against it.

Title and the developer's mortgage

A Land Registry search certificate on the plot shows the registered owner, any mortgage and any contracts already deposited. If the plot is mortgaged, ask for the lending bank's written undertaking to release your unit once you have paid. For contracts signed from 12 December 2023, Law 132(I)/2023 requires the seller to attach a recent search certificate and sets out how a mortgaged unit is released: with a Type A declaration countersigned by the bank, paying 95% of the price into the named account obliges the bank to release your unit. See title deeds in Cyprus.

Bank guarantee

Cyprus law does not require developers to guarantee buyers' payments. A bank guarantee covering your deposit and instalments until delivery is the strongest protection you can ask for. Some developers offer one; others do not.

Depositing the contract (Law 81(I)/2011)

The Sale of Land (Specific Performance) Law 81(I)/2011 is what protects an off-plan buyer before the title deed exists. Once your contract is deposited at the district Land Registry:

• The unit cannot be sold or charged to anyone else without your consent.
• You can ask the court to order the transfer to you once you have paid, which is what "specific performance" means.
• If the plot is mortgaged, you can pay your instalments straight to the lending bank so that it releases your unit.
• Deposit within 6 months of signing. It costs €50, and contracts signed from 1 January 2026 no longer pay stamp duty first.

Deposit does not make you the registered owner. The deed follows completion, the Certificate of Final Approval and the division of the building into units. The process is in how to buy, step by step.

Payment stages and escrow

An off-plan contract usually sets a reservation deposit, a payment on signing, instalments at construction stages such as the frame, walls and finishes, and the balance on delivery. The stages and amounts are negotiable.

• Tie each payment to a stage that can be checked, not to a date. You can ask for an independent architect to confirm each stage before you pay.
• Escrow is not required by law. You can agree that payments go into an escrow account, or into your lawyer's client account, and are released at set milestones.
• Hold back part of the price until delivery, or until the title deed is issued.
• Add a long-stop date after which you can cancel and recover what you paid, with interest.
• Pay from abroad by bank transfer and keep every receipt. They count towards permanent residency if you apply.

When the 5% VAT is settled

A new home pays VAT at 19%, or 5% on the qualifying part if it will be your main residence: see VAT: 5% or 19%. On an off-plan purchase, timing matters:

• The permit dates decide the regime. Projects whose planning permit was applied for after 31 October 2023 use the 130 m² and €350,000 limits. Older projects could use the earlier 200 m² rule if the application was made in time: the deadline was 15 June 2026, extended to 31 December 2026 for some delays caused by the planning authorities.
• You apply through the Tax For All portal. The law allows the declaration up to 12 months after you take possession, but apply early: until the rate is approved, the developer may charge 19% on each instalment.
• Agree it in the contract. Say which rate the price assumes, how instalments are invoiced while your application is pending, and how any difference is credited back.
• Plan for 10 years. If you sell, let or stop living in the home within 10 years, you repay the difference for the years remaining.

An independent lawyer

Your lawyer should act only for you. On an off-plan purchase they check the permits, the search certificate and the bank's release, negotiate the payment schedule, guarantee and penalty clauses, deposit the contract, apply for the permit non-EU buyers need, and file your VAT application. Legal fees are part of the cost of buying property.

Oniro homes off-plan

Every Oniro sale contract is deposited at the Land Registry after signing, and we give your lawyer the permit numbers and the plot's search certificate before you sign. At Aegea Views the planning permit was applied for before the November 2023 change, so all ten apartments qualify for 5% VAT as a main residence.