Pending title deeds applications down to 20,000

By George Psyllides

PENDING applications at the land registry department to issue title deeds for properties with final approval have been reduced to around 20,000 and the aim is to cut them down to 2,000, a senior official said yesterday.

Land registry deputy director Vasos Petrides told the Cyprus News Agency that based on the terms of a bailout agreed last year, the objective was to cut down the number to around 2,000 by the end of the year.

Also pending were title deed applications submitted from buyers concerning 4,000 units in 350 developments, Petrides said.

He said that titles had not been issued for these units because the owners or developers had not supplied the department with the necessary documents.

Under a law passed in 2011, buyers who have submitted their sale documents can ask the land registry department to start procedures to issue title deeds

Buyers however, do not possess the necessary documents – building permits, final approval – which only the owner of the property has.

In these cases the department asks the owner to supply the necessary paperwork so that the procedure can go ahead.

Petrides said his department wants the help of the other authorities like municipalities, and district administrations to supply the final documents.

“We take the case to the final stage and wait for the final approval to issue the titles,” he said.

There were also a number of developments that no one showed interest in securing the deeds for.

After 60 days the department can start the procedure itself and it can seek the necessary information from the other authorities.

The law gives the owner 60 days to submit the application and pay for a specific development. If they fail, the land registry and the town-planning authority can impose a fine, which could reach a few thousand euros, Petrides said.

Fines will not be imposed in the cases where one faced financial problems or was bankrupt.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.