Landlords up in arms over new tenancy bill

LANDLORDS are up in arms over a new tenancy bill that looks set to increase tenants’ defences against eviction.

The House Interior Committee on Monday backed the bill, which gives tenants the right to transfer their rental contract on landed property to their children in the event of their death.

Loukis Hadjikyriakou of the Cyprus Land and Property Association yesterday told the Cyprus Mail the bill was preposterous. “As owners, we disagree with the law, as it protects the tenants and takes our right away to claim our property and pass it on to our children for them to do what they wish,” said Hadjikyriacou.

At present, the law states that in the event of a tenant’s death the rental contract will be passed to the children only if they are working with the parent and living under the same roof.

However, the new bill stipulates that the deceased tenant’s child or children will automatically inherit the rental contract for the landed property, regardless of where they live or what their profession is. To avoid tenants’ children taking advantage of the law or attempting to manipulate their rights, the Committee approved a suggestion that in order to inherit the rental contract, any children must use the property rented by the parent as their permanent workplace.

The Land and Property Association points out the new law could potentially freeze them out of their rightful property for generations to come.

“We the owners will be left with the title deeds and the responsibility of paying taxes, while the tenants’ families will simply take the property, not allowing us to claim what is rightfully ours,” said Hadjikyriacou. “When will the owner have the right to pass his property to his children with this new law? He won’t because the deceased tenant’s family will automatically inherit the property.”

The bill must still be approved by the plenum to pass into law.

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.