Pafos Live 16 February 2024
At an average of three months compared to the one to three years required until now, the time for examining and issuing property titles is limited to more than one to three years as a rule, Minister of Interior Constantinos Ioannou said in his address at the educational workshop of the Pancyprian Association of Land Development and Building Entrepreneurs. on "The new procedure for issuing title deeds".
Mr. Ioannou noted that creating conditions for promoting development is a priority and a declared commitment of the Government as of June 2023 and included the modification and simplification of procedures in both the Department of Lands and Surveys and the Department of Town Planning and Housing. He added that "we are proceeding through a series of measures to simplify the urban and spatial planning of the State, making the service of citizens more direct and enhancing development prospects."
Having acknowledged the long delays that existed in many cases in completing the procedures for issuing title deeds, our goal is to establish more flexible and faster procedures, without delays and unnecessary inconvenience to citizens.
One of the main changes promoted, aimed at improving and accelerating the process of issuing title deeds, is the new procedure concerning applications for separation of plots for the creation of new title deeds of land or other units, he said, adding that this change was implemented from January 2 this year.
The new procedure, as explained by the Minister of Interior, provides for the prior external delimitation, spatial work of the development and submission of all required documents, a procedure that ensures that all applications are henceforth fully and correctly completed and ensures their faster evaluation, without constantly requiring the submission of new data by applicants. He also noted that the advance completion of the external delimitation before the separation of the plots ensures that future development takes place within the actual boundaries of the plot, without interference with neighbouring properties, something that until now has often been a point of friction between owners.
The Minister of the Interior said that in addition that the Department of Lands and Surveys has recently implemented the institution of the private competent surveyor as the only option for carrying out the required spatial work of separation and thus citizens are given the opportunity to apply directly to a private surveyor of their choice, for the completion of the surveying works. while, by extension, the staff of the Department is relieved of these tasks in order to undertake other tasks and the significant delays observed until now are reduced.
Finally, he stressed that with the above regulations, a substantial reduction is achieved in the overall time of completion of the application and the issuance of title deeds by the Department of Lands and Surveys. "As a rule, the examination and issuance time of securities is limited to an average of three months from more than one to three years required until now," he noted.
