Sir,
My son moved to Cyprus about eight years ago. He bought a newly-built house which looked impressive but after a year or two it had a serious damp problem and a number of alarming cracks.
A neighbour – a former builder – who had seen the house being constructed, said the foundations were hopelessly inadequate, particularly as the land had previously been an orchard and the soil was unstable.
My son was alarmed to learn that there are no building inspectors in Cyprus: anyone can register as a builder and once planning permission has been obtained can proceed to construct any sort of abomination without interference.
After a few years, during which my son spent a fortune and most of his time attempting to rectify the myriad problems, he sold the house at a fall-down price and determined to build another – this time to modern European specifications.
It took a very long time to find a builder who understood the necessity of cavity walls, copious insulation and a genuine damp proof course but eventually he located one. Incidentally, my son was surprised to find that there were no firms in Cyprus able to provide comprehensive solar heating – only those supplying heated water systems.
Everywhere in Cyprus single-skin concrete houses are being built, many with flat roofs totally devoid of insulation. Winter and summer, these places demand constant heating or cooling. The absence of an authentic damp proof course is proclaimed by the plaster falling off the exterior walls.
My son now has one of the few houses in Cyprus which conforms to 21st century standards in terms of foundations, damp-proofing, insulation and drainage. However, he has had huge problems with the local planning authority, who are unsettled because the house is an ‘unconventional’ build.
Those considering the purchase of a property in Cyprus should be aware that securing title deeds is merely one obstacle in the exercise: they might be lumbering themselves with the type of accommodation most British home-owners would normally consider adequate only to shelter their car. They should know that the ‘luxury’ house which dazzles in the Mediterranean sunlight could prove to be a nightmare of unimaginable proportions, rendering them physically and emotionally exhausted and insolvent.
B. Wykeham-Banks
Alveston, Thornbury, Gloucestershire
