Protestors Warn South Cyprus Property Buyers to Beware

Protestors Warn South Cyprus Property Buyers to BewareEight protesters who had bought property in South Cyprus stood outside the Olympia in London where ‘A Place in the Sun Live’ was occurring. Two South Cyprus companies were among those taking part. The aim pf the protestors was to warn off potential buyers from investing in the South because in their cases they had experienced problems including their property being destroyed in an ongoing land-slippage in Pissouri, Swiss Franc loans incorrectly promising low repayments and a double selling fraud.

I’d love to believe that the protest would have an impact but unfortunately until buyers bother to research their purchases themselves, wherever they buy, there is always a chance that someone will take advantage of them. Caveat emptor is the cornerstone of English law. It means that it is up to those purchasing goods and property to make sure they are free from defects and fit for purpose. If any such problems come to light once the transaction has taken place the law will not step in to help the buyer.

The organiser of the protest is Conor O’Dwyer, who is the midst of a 14-year legal battle after buying a property in Cyprus in 2005 only for the developer to sell his house to another British family at a higher price. According to O’Dwyer not only was the original sale to him registered with the land registry department, but the developer also kept the money he had paid.

The protesters, were holding placards saying ‘Do not buy property in Republic of Cyprus’, handed out leaflets to potential buyers as they went inside the exhibition. On Saturday morning, a discussion was also held at the exhibition on buying property in Cyprus. The leaflets explain to potential buyers the reasons why they shouldn’t buy in Cyprus.

Developers reassure buyers that as long as their contracts are in the land registry they are safe but My O’Dwyer said,

“No. My contract is in the land registry and my property developer sold my house to another person at a higher price to profit more,” he said. “A court case in the Republic of Cyprus takes 13 years.”

Some of the protesters whose homes were built in the Limnes area of Pissouri have fallen victim to a serious and continuing land slippage. The land is now slipping at almost double the rate it did in 2015 when the movement was up to 40cm per year. By early March, five families had been evicted, while, according to lawyer for the homeowners, Elina Zoi, 15 houses are considered dangerous but the owners continue to live in them as they have nowhere else to go. The land slippage is due to failure to provide adequate infrastructure to manage groundwater, and allowing development to go ahead in the area.

“House insurance does not cover landslides and it’s the government’s duty to help,” O’Dwyer said, adding that the only action from the government is forced evictions with the homeless British returning to the UK.

Another group at the protest are victims of the mis-selling of Swiss Franc loans to purchase homes in Cyprus.

The aim of the protest, O’Dwyer said, was to inform everyone on what’s happened to them “and what’s happening to Brits every day over there in Cyprus”.

He expressed hope that their presence there would minimise “the danger to the British buying public” since there were only two Cyprus real estate agents at the exhibition.

Source: Cyprus Mail

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Comments are closed.