Killing the golden geese

BILL is 72 years old. He and his wife first arrived in Cyprus 15 years ago: they bought a comfortable home in Paphos, have plenty of friends, and thoroughly enjoy living in Cyprus.
Reluctantly, however, they now plan to return to live in the UK. “My health insurance has gone up so much in the past two years that I can no longer afford to pay the annual £2,000 plus, which gives me only the most basic of medical cover.”
These days, he added, “it’s very difficult to live anywhere near the lifestyle we were used to when we first arrived on the island, especially when there is no income, only expenditure.
“We’re not stupid, we did our financial homework before we came here, and even allowing for inflation over the years we genuinely thought we could manage, but everything has got so expensive, so quickly, that the financial security about living out one’s retirement years here has now totally disappeared.”
Bill is not alone, few who retired here in the 1980s and ’90s are untouched by the cost of living, particularly in Paphos, which seems to be on its way to winning the award for being the most expensive area of Cyprus to live in.
“I shouldn’t knock it,” confided Janice, a young retiree aged 51, “I bought a one bedroom flat 18 months ago for £32,000 and sold it last week for £52,000. Now, that’s what I call crazy prices. OK, I am benefiting from the sale, but I now have to spend even more to move up the housing ladder.
“I’ve now opted to rent for a couple of years, but haven’t been able to find anything suitable under £350 a month, and, believe me, the majority of properties I have seen to date are not worth this rental price.
“So I am now considering moving to Nicosia, where I believe there is a better chance a) of finding a proper house, one that has a bit of character and is not a ticky-tacky box affair set cheek by jowl with another 12 villas, as is being offered here in Paphos; and b) there is less chance of being treated as a gullible tourist. Yes, the capital has much more appeal for me.”
Cyprus is beautiful, agreed Dave a retired civil engineer: “It’s still a great place to live, but it’s much cheaper to shop in Nicosia these days than in downtown Paphos.
“Furniture, for example, is 20 per cent more expensive in Paphos than in Nicosia. I bought a well-known brand name kettle in Paphos; in Nicosia, the same kettle was being sold four pounds cheaper.
“Also because Nicosia is not tourist-driven, and the town planners seem to have more teeth than they do here in Paphos, where it seems anyone can build whatever, anywhere.
“In the capital, you can find a nice non-tourist apartment of 220 square metres for the price of a 90-square metre flat in Paphos.”
“It’s a double whammy situation,” agreed Margaret, a retiree of 10 years. “VAT has gone from five per cent to 15 per cent, petrol has increased three fold, a pack of chicken fillets was £3.65 now it’s £4.80.
“And if you live off stocks and shares, well, they all took a mighty tumble. We remember when interest rates were 10 per, for heaven’s sake.
“My husband and I literally scrape through the month. We hardly ever go out now to eat in restaurants, as they have just become prohibitive.
Charles lives on a complex in Paphos and is trying to sell his three-bedroom apartment.
“When I first moved in here, the maintenance charges were £150 per year and they did indeed maintain the property on that amount. Four years, later we are now being asked to pay £500 for a poor level of maintenance.
“It seems to me that everyone here believes the Brits are not only rich, but a bit stupid, and we are only here to pay out money. I went into a lighting shop last week to buy a ceiling fan, one of those with three blades, no lights. The man in the shop told me the price would be £35. Down the road, the same fan was being sold for £17.50.
“It’s just so short-sighted. They’ll end up killing off all the golden geese.
“Then there’s the question about the future of duty free cars for foreigners. This was a great incentive to live in Cyprus, and now that big perk seems as if it will also disappear.”
Charles then launched into the “other big rip-off”, as he describes it. Selling his property: “I want to sell, but before I can do this I need the title deeds to be in my name. The game here is that the developer has to issue me with two pieces of paper for the title deed transfer. The reason for this is that the original builder technically still owns the land, (though not the building); the original contract is then cancelled and a new one is then issued to the next purchaser. This simple paperwork exercise cost me over £3,000.
“In other words, having paid for my property I now have to pay through the nose so I can then sell it on.”
“It’s a shame,” agreed Anastasia, the Cypriot owner of a travel agency. “I see old English friends come into the shop to tell me they are leaving to go back home to live. They were the ones that helped make us a good business here in Paphos, the English have always been very good customers, paying quickly, very polite and friendly. I just don’t know who will replace them. I don’t see Paphos being the place of choice to retire to for older Italians, French, or Germans.”
The local charity and second hand shops have also experienced a steady increase in business over the past 12 months, with English expats selling off their household goods as they leave.
“It’s sad really,” said Margaret, a part-time worker in one charity shop in Paphos. Every week, a good number of ex pats come in here to sell off items such as silverware, china, clothes, etc just to get some extra spending cash.
“I can tell those that will not be able to survive the huge leap in the cost of living, they’re the ones will end up going back home, but to what kind of life I hate to think, after so many years living happily and safely here.
“I just don’t know what is going to happen, as prices on everything just seem to be spiralling upwards, and incomes are declining.
“Now that’s a really horrible sandwich to be in in your old age.”