Cyprus-Forum.com

[Svetlana]

Pity the expat buyers in the north…
By Jean Christou

IT’S NOT only the outcome of the Orams case that foreign buyers in the north are worrying about, as the north’s property boom has begun to bring the development cowboys out of the woodwork.

In a letter to the Turkish Cypriot English-language daily Cyprus Times, titled “What about the real victims?”, the Homebuyers’ Pressure Group complained buyers were falling prey to unscrupulous developers.

Citing the Gary Robb case, the group said there was no mention of “the real victims” – the property buyers.

“Who feels sorry for the people who have paid for their properties a long time ago and are still waiting for them to be completed? What about the buyers who should now be living in their Aga house and are now in rented accommodation for the unforeseeable future? What about all the people who have bought from other construction companies and are suffering the same financial loss and stress? They are the real victims of the recent property boom. And who cares about them? It appears that nobody does,” the letter said.

It cited cases where the same property had been sold two or three times, with sales agreements prepared by the same lawyer. “Who will decide which of these multiple buyers actually gets the property and which of these buyers now wants the property?” the letter said.

“Will any of them get a refund of monies paid, plus interest? Probably not. The scenario is not just applicable to Aga buyers. Some builders we know have no intention of passing title to any buyers who have paid in full for their property. They just want to sell the houses over and over again to keep their bank accounts topped up or perhaps to buy the latest fashion car.”

It said that some builders also rent out houses that have been paid for in full by a “victim/buyer” and the law says that “as the titled owner of the land/property they are not acting illegally”.

The group also said they were told at their last meeting by an architectural engineer that most of their properties were substandard, and any houses built on an incline were in danger of subsidence.

“No soil testing is carried out prior to build and no proper engineering inspections take place during the build. Add that to the fact that a lot of properties are built and sold in areas where there is no water or electricity,” it said.

“Who should ultimately be held responsible for what is currently happening to buyers of properties in the TRNC? The government? We think that all of them should be held accountable. The victims/buyers account for approximately two per cent of the TRNC’s population yet they are responsible for approximately 30 per cent growth in the economy. And still nobody cares about them.”

The group added: “Foreigners are leaving the island and the tourists are not coming. Why? The TRNC, especially the Kyrenia District, is a mass of concrete, filth, noise and pollution.”



Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2006

[miltiades]

And it serves the Brits , most of them are , right. As so many of them are fleeced out of their money in Spain and yet they never learn , many more will be coned in "trnc" Why are the Brits so gullible , well first you have to classify the Brits into the brain dead , of average intelligence and the sophisticated educated classes that are incomparable .
Obviously the brain dead are the suckers that are born every minute. They are the Brits that hate thinking , find it boring and utterly useless until they find themselves forced to use their brain when a major calamity is creeping up on them , as the case with buying property in "trnc"

Even the T/Cs are too prudent to invest in property that is risky but not the Brits , that's why I say good luck to them they deserve all that they get.

[RichardB]

Spot on militades.
I really cant understand why anyone would rush in and use all their life savingswithout taking proper independant advise and doing their own research.
In a way I feel sorry for some of them not for the fact that they're probably going to lose everything but for the fact that they're so gullible when they thing they are getting a bargain.
Let them enjoy their time in their hot tubs while they still think they are big fish in a little pond ...it wont last

[chedda]

I just hope we have more of these stories to deter further investors. Although part of me does sympathise with those who have lost , i don't believe they were completely unaware of the risk.

[Kifeas]

To tell you the truth, in all this mess and fight, I see only one factor as the main moral perpetrator. This is the British government and the British policy in relation to the Cyprus problem in general, especially after 1974, and the fact that it "assumed" the role of the notorious neutral in the conflict -especially on the level of international legality, even though as a guarantor power they should have been more clear and specific. For many years now they had a clearly misleading traveling advice to their citizens, essentially misleading in making decisions that were clearly outside any concept of legality and legitimacy, and even after they have recently updated their advice, it is still quite misleading.

If I was a British national caught in this property situation in the north, the first one I would suit and claim damages, would have been the British government for not informing me adequately or even deliberately misleading me. The British government should have taken a more clear and direct stance all these years, and should have kept informing its citizens in no uncertain terms that “buying” GC owned properties in the north through the regime was an act definitely outside international legality, since it is only the RoC and its land registry records and decisions that count as to who the legal owner of the properties in the north is, since it is the only entity that is recognized to have the de jure sovereignty of the occupied north part of Cyprus by international law. They neglected to do so, I believe deliberately -since the RoC had warned them many times in the past –since 1974, and instead they were content with some hybrid traveling advice that could have and still can be interpreted in various ways.

Even after the ECHR had ruled in favor of Loizidou in her case against Turkey, some 10 years ago, verifying in the most uncertain terms that the GCs continue to be regarded as the lawful and rightful owners of their properties in the north and that any decision taken by the illegal and void regime in the north in this direction is regarded as null and void, still the British government had chosen to turn a blind eye on the issue and left its citizens in the mercy of the Turkish propaganda machinery that was claiming that the GC properties as well as the populations have been “exchanged” in some kind of (non existing) agreement between the two sides (sic,) thus prompting many of them to willfully I must add deceive themselves into buying such properties in the north, since at the same time the couldn’t make any sense out of the British traveling advices.

[chedda]

I agree wholeheartedly, i think now leaflets are being issued to travellers to the north warning of implications. However this seems too little too late. I also think the UK banks are all too eager remortgaging properties with N Cyprus in mind. I would have assumed this was beyond there durastiction. While the rest of the world denies N Cyprus's existence the banks do not ! I thought the paperwork would not hold water, perhaps with this case in progress the banks will rethink their policies.

[RichardB]

I would agree with you on the majority of your points kifeas.
But I still think it comes down to people (be they British or not) rushing in eyes closed when they see what they think is a bargain.
As chedda said and I agree, people could not have been unaware of the risk they are taking buying property in the north.
Yes the UK gov should have issued more warnings in the past , But would this have made any difference to people 'wanting to make a quick buck' ..I dont think so.
I wouldnt buy a property in the Uk without independent advise from a solicitor (ie do searches etc) and I didnt do without professional independent advise when I purchased in the ROC.
It wouldnt have taken a great deal of resarch by these individuals to find out they are taking a big risk and stand to lose everything would it?

[miltiades]

Kifeas you are correct in criticizing the British relative authorities for failing to offer their citizens adequate warnings on the pitfalls of buying in the North. The people however would have treated these warnings with the same contempt they treat warnings that buying stolen property makes them an accessory to the crime committed. There are warnings on Time share scum schemes that the average Brit fails to take any notice. There are warnings on packets of cigarettes and yet people take the risk.
The British government , not only the present one but previous Governments also, exercised a foreign policy best suited for the interests of Britain. A lesson our own Government ought to take on board .
The British Government of today has however failed misserably in making its position crystal clear , but of course with the Orams case and Mrs Blair defending it is easy to see that their position is contrary to what it should be.

[Kifeas]

I would agree with you on the majority of your points kifeas.
But I still think it comes down to people (be they British or not) rushing in eyes closed when they see what they think is a bargain.
As chedda said and I agree, people could not have been unaware of the risk they are taking buying property in the north.
Yes the UK gov should have issued more warnings in the past , But would this have made any difference to people 'wanting to make a quick buck' ..I dont think so.
I wouldnt buy a property in the Uk without independent advise from a solicitor (ie do searches etc) and I didnt do without professional independent advise when I purchased in the ROC.
It wouldnt have taken a great deal of resarch by these individuals to find out they are taking a big risk and stand to lose everything would it?

No my friend! From the moment the British government decided to issue a traveling advice on the issue, they ought to have made it perfectly clear as to what the situation exactly was /is, at least from a legal (international law) perspective. It would have been much better (and wiser) for them not to say a word at all about the issue (no advice at all,) than to issue one that could be interpreted in many ways. From the moment they issued such a traveling advice that could have potentially ended up misleading people, they bear full responsibility.

[RichardB]

http://www.justlanded.com/english/cypru ... g_property

Kifeas my point was that persons buying property in the north should do their researh just as anyone buying a property anywhere in the world should. I have just been on google for about 2 minutes and found the above link (too long to paste.)
I know this would have stopped and made me think about buying property in the north its not difficult to do your own homework is it