Property Management in Cyprus
ICY offers to the customers a long-term property management and assistance with your overseas their properties which to us, is right around the corner.
When buying or investing in an overseas property, property management is a game changer, because the owner lives far away from their property and cannot handle any problems that may arise. ICY meticulously and consistently maintains your property’s condition, helping you to steadily achieve the highest rates of return.
Over the years, we have managed many dozens of properties. We’ve responded to every inquiry made by tenants, lessors, or buyers, liaised with relevant authorities to make sure that payments are made on time, ensured that the properties continued to conform to the highest standards, and provided peace of mind to our customers, who know that their investment is in good hands.
We are able to protect your interests as flat owners. We provide our services in multiple languages and we’re able to efficiently communicate with your lessees. We ensure complete transparency by means of monthly and annual financial statements and access to our customer portal (currently in development).
The office team is responsible for the following services:
- Opening a local bank account or transferring rent payments directly to property owners.
- Property inspection.
- Identifying tenants, reliability checks, extension, and termination of contracts.
- Tenant replacement at the end of each term of lease.
- Constant communication with house committees.
- Payments – rent, bills, repairs.
- Immediate response to every request by tenants.
- Providing support to professionals at the property as needed.
- Comprehensive documentation of each flat from the very beginning, including contracts, lessees, renovations, payments to authorities, etc.
- Management reports are filed on a regular basis.
- Assistance is provided in English, thereby bridging cultural and linguistic gaps, as well as local procedures.
Like any venture, buying a property requires a contract that is intended to protect the interests of each party. This is certainly true in the case of buying a property in another country where there are different norms and laws.
The buyer needs a local lawyer who speaks the language, and who will represent them before the authorities and relevant offices in the process of buying the property, and who will be responsible for the following:
- The due diligence process that pertains to the seller.
- Comprehensive inspection of the property.
- Familiarity with legal provisions that pertain to immigration and regulations.
- Negotiation management.
- Protecting the interests and safety of the buyer, e.g.: registering the property in the buyer’s name, VAT reduction in the framework of first-hand home purchasers, tenant eviction, contracts, etc.
- Stamp tax: 0.15% – 0.20%.
- Transfer tax: 1.5%-4%, a progressive tax that is based on the property’s value (second-hand purchases). The tax is paid upon the transfer of ownership (in the framework of the registration extract that is kept by the Land Registry).
- VAT: 5% / 19% – First-hand purchase. Payable on every payment that is transferred to the contractor/developer. If the buyer is purchasing a flat for the first time, a benefit will apply to that purchase that entitles the buyer to a 14% rebate (VAT). Several conditions need to be fulfilled in this context, e.g.: the flat must be used by the owner for private purposes, or the property must have been held for at least 10 years. It is very important to understand that if the flat is sold in the course of the first 10 years, the VAT will be increased to 19% (pro rata), which is the common practice in Cyprus and is prorated to the period of time for which the buyer held the property.
- Contract submission – EUR 50: the submission takes place at the Land Registration Office in order to protect the buyer. Submission of the contract involves recording a cautionary notice in the buyer’s name and creates a sort of collateral for the property.
- Legal assistance – each transaction requires the services of a local lawyer who files the contract with the Land Registration Office in the buyer’s name. This lawyer will register the buyer with the VAT Authorities so as to receive the VAT rebate.
- Taxes are paid on income that exceeds EUR 19,500 a year. In other words, income from rent that falls below EUR 19,500 is not creating any obligation to pay taxes. A progressive tax liability applies beyond that amount. In this case, we recommend opening a Cypriot Company and paying 12.5% on that income – a rate that’s lower than the “normal” income tax rate.
- Property owners who are required to pay taxes in Cyprus are as follows:
- GHS Tax – 2.65% of rent.
- Security tax – 2.5%.
- GHS payments do not apply to properties that belong to a company.
** The taxes that must be paid in Cyprus do not affect the taxes that the property owner is required to pay in the country in which they are liable for tax.
- 20% (capital gains) on the difference between the purchase price and the selling price
