Should we wish to buy property in Cyprus - which we don't - we should have done it twenty years ago, and it would probably have tripled in value. Not a bad rate of return regardless of upkeep and taxes. One good reason for not having done so is the endless fiasco of the title deeds, or lack of same. When we first began coming here we were puzzled to see advertisements for houses or flats "with title deeds", our previous experience leading us to believe that the title deeds were what you were handed when you bought the property, or at least when you finished paying for it.
Not so in Cyprus. Despite various ineffective efforts of the government to solve the problem owning a (fully paid for) house without the title deeds is very common, possibly more common than possessing said deeds. This applies to Harry and Ailsa's house. Also to Bill and Jane's, though Bill makes regular visits to the land registry office where they call him Mr William and assure him that the paper work has all been done. He points out that this has been going on for years and he will be eighty-five next birthday. But assurances are all he gets. And so another government attempt at solution falls somewhat short of convincing. Actually, this attempt seems to come from the opposition, which is not necessarily more encouraging. The Cyprus Mail summarises:
"In the absence of tangible government action, main opposition Akel said on Wednesday it will be preparing two proposals designed to iron out kinks in a 2015 law that sought to sort out the title deed mess, offering relief to so-called trapped buyers. The law sought to resolve the problems for homeowners who had paid for their properties but were not issued with their title deeds either because it was mortgaged by the developer, or the state could not go ahead with the transfer because of outstanding taxes. Since developers’ land and buildings were counted as assets that need to be offset against their debt to banks, this gave lenders a claim on people’s properties that had been mortgaged by developers."
This does provide some level of explanation for the bizarre state of affairs, but Cypriots have learned not to hold their breath.