Opinion
By Takis Hadjigeorgiou, former MEP
About a year ago, I met with the top state official responsible for land and property issues in Cyprus. I won’t name names. My intention isn’t to target anyone personally, but I will say this: I spoke to the person who should know the most about the growing number of real estate acquisitions by non-EU nationals.
“Unfortunately, there’s a problem. Most of these purchases are done through companies, and the Land Registry doesn’t know who the shareholders of those companies are.”
I went to that meeting with one question: Does the state have any real, structured understanding of what’s happening on the ground? Is there an official picture, solid data, or real insight into this phenomenon?
I told him what I’d been hearing with increasing frequency: that third-country nationals are purchasing vast tracts of land, apartment buildings, development plots, and even historic properties across Cyprus, and they’re doing it with enormous amounts of money. These aren’t one-off sales. It’s a pattern, systematic, escalating, and spreading.
And I didn’t beat around the bush. I added that the vast majority of reports I had received, and others too, pointed to Israeli nationals.
His response was disarming, almost casual. “Yes, I’ve heard that too,” he said. “But didn’t we used to say it was the Lebanese buying us out?”
I reminded him that I wasn’t speaking to a random citizen; I was speaking to the state. And the state is supposed to know how many properties have been sold, at what value, to whom, from which countries, and with what money. I wasn’t asking for personal data. I was asking for a clear picture.
Then came his second, even more troubling answer: “Unfortunately, there’s a problem. Most of these purchases are done through companies, and the Land Registry doesn’t know who the shareholders of those companies are.”
I left that meeting assuming that the state, as it should, would move quickly to close this legal loophole that allows the law to be sidestepped so blatantly.
According to Cypriot law, a non-EU national is allowed to purchase one residence and one commercial property. That’s it. If this restriction is being bypassed systematically through the misuse of corporate structures, then the state has a duty to act. Not with press releases. With legislation.
But from what I can see, nothing has been done. The buying continues. Property is changing hands at a feverish pace. And the problem isn’t just about numbers; it’s about geography. In certain areas, entire apartment blocks are being snapped up in bulk. It’s as if someone is trying to take over entire neighborhoods.
At some point, you can’t help but wonder: is this random, or is it part of a strategic plan?
One thing is clear: prices are rising. Rents are skyrocketing. Local residents simply can’t compete with the wealth or aggressiveness of these buyers. And the state? It doesn’t know how many properties have changed hands, who bought them, or how. It doesn’t know, or maybe it chooses not to know, whether the buyers are Israelis, Russians, Chinese, or others.
As I dug deeper, I realized the legal loophole is even wider than I thought.
There are two main tricks being used:
1. A Cypriot who owns a company with property sells the company, not the property, to a foreign national. Ownership changes hands without any record in the Land Registry. The new owner demolishes what's there and builds an apartment block. Twenty flats to start with. Then more purchases. Then more construction. And the state remains blind.
2. A foreigner pays a Cypriot to set up a company in the Cypriot’s name. The Cypriot transfers huge plots of land to that company. Later, the company shares are quietly transferred to the foreigner at the Companies Registrar. Again, the property changes hands, legally on paper but abusively in practice.
This is why Cyprus is now full of developers from third countries. Hiding behind Cypriot corporate veils, they flip land, renovate, evict tenants, and resell or lease to their compatriots for extortionate sums. And the state just watches.
We urgently need a legal overhaul. There must be real transparency around who owns companies that hold property, not just going forward, but retroactively. The state cannot pretend not to see. And it mustn’t stay silent, especially when those who dare to speak up are accused of racism or antisemitism.
This issue exploded into the public sphere after AKEL Secretary General Stefanos Stefanou raised it at the party’s most recent congress. His remarks were not only courageous, they were essential. Because this issue isn’t about nationality. It’s about governance, society, and sovereignty. It’s about transparency, national control, and social balance.
We must stay vigilant.
*This op-ed was translated from its Greek original
