Filenews 3 November 2023
Legislation seeking to issue thousands of outstanding property titles, which will obviously be easier to sell if necessary, has been submitted to Parliament by the government.
The proposed amendment of the legislation attempts, according to what is recorded in the explanatory report, to address the problem of non-issuance of building title deeds or delay in their issuance, which, among other things, results from the deviation of the erected building from the terms of the Building Permit and the non-issuance of the Certificate of Completion of Works by the Supervising Engineers of the Project.
In other words, the plans submitted provided for one thing and others were implemented on the ground.
The bill will benefit not only property buyers who will be released by acquiring title deeds, but also the state itself, which will see its receipts increase from the payment of transfer fees.
Fine up to €10.000
The bill also provides for the imposition of a fine of up to €10,000 on designers who do not inform the authorities about issues related to the buildings they supervise.
In an accompanying document, it is stated that "the purpose of the bill is to strengthen the incentives of the Supervising Engineer for the issuance of the Certificate of Completion of Building Works, in order to promote the issuance of a Certificate of Approval by the competent Authority as well as the issuance of a title deed by the Department of Lands and Surveys.
Certificate of completion of tasks
The Regulation of Roads and Buildings (Amendment) Law of 2023, as the promoted legislation is called, includes provisions for the imposition of a fine in cases where the Supervising Engineer does not inform the competent Authority of any deviation of the works from the terms of the Building Permit as well as the increase of the administrative fine imposed by the competent Authority on the Supervising Engineer, in case of non-issuance of the Certificate of Completion of Works upon completion of the works, in accordance with article 10 of the Regulation of Roads and Buildings Law.
In the background they see investments
An accompanying document to the bill states that there is no negative economic impact from the proposed amendment of the legislation.
It is added that through the implementation of the proposed regulation, it is expected that the revenues of the competent authorities resulting from the imposition of the increased administrative fine to the Supervising Engineer will increase.
In addition, a positive impact on the economy of Cyprus is expected, due to increased interest in investments, taking into account the more efficient issuance of title deeds. In the past, inefficient issuance of securities has been a deterrent to domestic investment.
According to officials, more efficient issuance of title deeds will contribute not only to domestic investment but also to investment by foreign investors.
