Parliament’s Interior Committee is bringing back four proposals deferred during the previous parliamentary term, with changes aimed at tightening rules on foreign property ownership in Cyprus.
The House of Representatives’ Interior Committee will examine four bills at its first meeting of the new parliamentary session on Thursday. The proposals were previously discussed at committee meetings during the last parliamentary term.
They were due to go before the full House for a vote in April. However, they were deferred at the last minute.
The main aim of the proposals is to limit foreign ownership of property in Cyprus. A significant share of land and property sold in the Cypriot market has passed into foreign hands.
The proposed changes also seek to close gaps in existing legislation. These gaps can allow foreign interests to acquire property through companies registered in Cyprus or another European Union member state.
The legal loopholes over foreign ownership
The issue of these legislative gaps was also highlighted by the Audit Office in its special report, “Audit of the Acquisition of Immovable Property by Foreigners” (Greek), published on 23 September 2025.
According to the report, property bought by a foreign-owned company registered in Cyprus or another EU member state is recorded in official statistics as a Cypriot or European purchase.
As a result, the true scale of foreign participation in the property market may be underestimated.
Existing legislation includes safeguards governing property purchases by foreign nationals. However, these safeguards do not apply in the same way to foreign-owned companies registered in Cyprus or the EU.
Their purchases can therefore be treated as Cypriot or European transactions. This can allow property to be acquired without the same restrictions, regardless of who ultimately controls the company.
Foreigners accounted for 41.3% of sales in first seven months
Available data points to a growing presence of foreign buyers in the Cyprus property market.
According to a recent analysis by Delfi Partners, foreign buyers accounted for 41.3% of all sales contracts in the first seven months of 2026. This was up from 39.2% over the same period in 2025.
The figure represents 4,980 property sales contracts. July alone saw 829 sales contracts involving foreign buyers, described as a record number.
The analysis also found that overseas demand is growing faster than the domestic market.
Purchases by foreign buyers rose by 20.3%. The overall property market increased by 14.1%.
This means foreign buyers are not simply following the wider market recovery. Their share of the market is increasing at a faster rate.
(A closer look at the figures in my analysis shows that, of the 4,980 property sale contracts recorded in the first seven months of 2026, 1,687 involved EU citizens and 3,293 involved non-EU citizens. Of the 829 contracts deposited in July, 277 were by EU nationals and 522 by non-EU nationals.)
What the four proposals would change
The Interior Committee will examine the four bills on Thursday.
Two proposals from AKEL
The two AKEL proposals, signed by the party’s general secretary Stefanos Stefanou, would amend the Acquisition of Immovable Property (Foreigners) Law and the Transfer and Mortgage of Immovable Property Law.
Among other measures, they would:
- Expand the definition of a “foreign-controlled company” to include any organisation where the beneficial owner is a foreign national.
- Set out the terms, restrictions, conditions and criteria applying to property acquisitions by foreigners through regulations issued under the relevant law. These regulations would be submitted to the House of Representatives for approval.
- Remove certain provisions that contain legal gaps or ambiguities, including those relating to the acquisition of large areas of land by foreigners.
- Remove the need for Cabinet approval where a foreign individual is buying one apartment or one home of up to 200 sq m.
- Apply the same exemption to one shop of up to 200 sq m or one office of up to 300 sq m.
- Ban foreign buyers from acquiring forest or agricultural land.
- Ban purchases of property next to the ceasefire line or areas and infrastructure considered critical.
According to AKEL, the proposals aim to remove provisions that allow foreigners to acquire property indirectly without Cabinet approval.
They would also introduce stronger mechanisms for monitoring and enforcement.
Proposal from Koulias, Mylonas, Savvides, Orphanides, Hatzigiannis and Tryfonidis
The third bill was submitted by Zacharias Koulias, Panikos Leonidou, Pavlos Mylonas, Chrysanthos Savvides and Christos Orphanides of DIKO, Kyriakos Hatzigiannis of DISY and Alekos Tryfonidis of DIPA.
The proposal would amend the Acquisition of Immovable Property (Foreigners) Law and update several of its provisions.
It would introduce clear restrictions on property purchases by individuals who are citizens of third countries.
Under the proposal, such buyers would be allowed to acquire only one home or apartment. This could be either an existing property or one to be built, and would have to be on a single plot.
The bill would also introduce restrictions on purchases by legal entities.
At least 51% of the issued share capital, voting rights or control would have to be held by citizens of Cyprus, another EU member state or a country party to the European Economic Area.
The same would apply where control is held by a legal entity established under the laws of Cyprus or another EU member state. That entity would also need its registered office, central administration or principal place of business in an EEA state.
The proposal would also prohibit foreigners from acquiring forest or agricultural land.
The sponsors say the changes are needed to prevent the creation of Cypriot companies and other organisations that mainly act as intermediaries for foreign property purchases.
They also argue that the measures would help protect agriculture and the rural economy.
Proposal by Nikos Georgiou of DISY
A fourth proposal was submitted by DISY MP Nikos Georgiou.
Its aim is to amend the Acquisition of Immovable Property (Foreigners) Law and modernise the rules governing the process for foreign buyers.
The proposal would allow an application to acquire property in Cyprus to be submitted either by the applicant or by a lawyer, accountant or licensed estate agent acting on the applicant’s behalf.
These professionals are subject to supervision under Cyprus anti-money laundering legislation.
The proposal would also specify the documents that must be submitted to the Cabinet when seeking approval for a property purchase.
According to the MP and the explanatory statement accompanying the bill, the changes are intended to protect the public interest.
They would do so by improving transparency and strengthening the effectiveness of checks.
The proposal also seeks to ensure that due diligence rules are applied promptly by professionals handling applications on behalf of foreign buyers.
Renewed focus on foreign property ownership in Cyprus
The return of the four proposals puts foreign ownership back at the centre of the Cyprus property debate.
With overseas buyers accounting for more than two-fifths of sales contracts so far this year, the issue is likely to remain closely watched by developers, estate agents and investors.
The committee’s discussions will determine whether the proposed restrictions move forward to the next stage of the legislative process.
