Filenews 17 February 2026 - by Vassos Vassiliou
Chaos prevails in the Land Registry Department with cases pending since 1973 and with uncollected revenues amounting to €18.5 million. As for the pending zoning applications, they skyrocketed to 24,968, while ten debtors of state land exploitation owe €2.6 million. In fact, one of them, which the Department has spared with €272,868, is a former semi-governmental organization, specifically the CTO.
These and many more, which seem unbelievable, are recorded in a report by the Audit Office which concerned the Department's compliance audit for the years 2021-2023, although it also covered previous years.
In more detail, the report records the following:
-A former semi-governmental organization, specifically the CTO, before being incorporated into the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, owed the Land Registry €272,868. An effort is being made to write off the amount of debts.
-There are long delays in the Valuation Sector, with the average time of stay of a file in the Sector for the valuation to be carried out amounting to 97 months (over 8 years), while in some isolated cases files were identified that remained in the Sector for 206 and 208 months (beyond 17 years).
-Some applications concerning forced sales of undistributed real estate have been pending since 1973.
-On 31.12.2024, 1,127 cases of illegal interventions were pending for examination on a nationwide basis, some of which date back 15 years.
-Pending survey applications amounted to 24,968 on 31.10.2023 (audit date), with a steady upward trend. The average duration of completion of the cases examined amounted to about 17 months, while extreme cases were identified with completion after 195 months (over 16 years).
-On 31.12.2024, uncollected revenues amounted to €18.5 million, with an increase of 20% in 2024 alone, of which €13.6 million (74%) concern state land leases. This amount mainly concerns rents from the lease of state land (hereinafter rents) and debts to the State related to urban planning projects of the Municipalities and Communities.
The Auditor General indicates that the delay in taking judicial measures leads to the accumulation of debts, with an increased risk of loss of state revenues. On 31.12.2023, the amounts owed were €15.5 million, so in 2024 they showed an increase of €3 million.
-The average time for examining an application for a lease of state land was estimated to be more than 8 years
-There are more than 1,000 pending cases of illegal interventions in the state and in their handling, delays exceeding 15 years have been recorded.
-The pending applications (forced Sales and Sales of Undistributed Property) at the end of 2024 amount to 9,146, with some cases pending since 1973.
-At the end of 2023, the pending spatial survey applications were about 25,000. About 15,000 are received annually and about 13,000 are processed within the year, with an average completion of each application of about 1.5 years, while the average time for examining applications for border disputes is about 10 years.
-7,769 pending applications for the lease of state land were identified and a delay of about 8 years is observed in their examination.
-About 70% of the uncollected rents amounting to €2.6 million. It comes from only ten tenants, one of whom owes a total of €600,000.
-The debts of Local Government Authorities (Municipalities and Communities) for their contribution to the expropriation of urban projects, amounted to €4.6 million on 31.12.2024.
-Contracts for leases of state land, in December 2025, according to the relevant Registry, amounted to 2,764.
-Pending applications for the lease of state land, in April 2025, amounted to 7,769, with the oldest dating back to 1980. The average duration of completion of the cases examined at the Nicosia EKG amounted to 98.4 months (approximately 8 years).
-Non-registration of state land available for lease.
-The total leased land, in April 2025, amounted to 24.1 sq.km. and concerns 2,764 contracts.
-The Department of Lands and Surveys (DLS) has not yet recorded all the state land that is available for lease,
-From the audit of eleven cases of requisitions in the period 2022-2024, it was found that the average time of stay of a file in the Sector, for the purpose of carrying out the assessment, amounted to 97 months (over 8 years), while in some individual cases files were identified that remained in the Sector for 206 and 208 months (beyond 17 years).
-In applications submitted for border dispute cases, the average duration from the submission of the application to the written notification of the decision of the interested parties amounted to 125 months (approximately 10 years). In many cases, the on-site examination was done after 6-10 years and the final decision was communicated even 15 years after the completion of the surveying work.
-The use of private Competent Surveyors, without a clear framework of deadlines and control of its compliance by the DLS, has led to cases where files of the DLS remain in the possession of private individuals for more than 16 years.
-An individual, requested the termination of the state land contract since 2017, but the contract has not yet been terminated and, therefore, the total unpaid amount included in the Statement of Receivables continues to increase.
-In applications submitted for border dispute cases (between owners), the average duration from the submission of the application until the written information on the decision of the interested parties amounted to 125 months (about 10 years). In many cases, the on-site examination was done after 6-10 years and the final decision was communicated even 15 years after the completion of the surveying work.
-For 12 files examined, the minimum length of stay of a file in the Valuation Branch was 8 months, while the maximum was 91 months (over 7.5 years). As regards the duration from the submission of the application to the conduct of the relevant auction, the minimum period was 18 months (1.5 years) and the maximum reached 140 months (over 11.5 years).
-Pending applications for forced Sales and Sales of Undistributed Property at the end of 2024 amounted to 9,146, with some cases pending since 1973.
