Press conference by the General Secretary of AKEL S.Stefanou on AKEL’s legislative proposals to restrict the acquisition of real estate by third-country nationals

 

11 November 2025, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

Last June, speaking at the 24th AKEL Congress, we noted the following:

“…The sixth major danger for our country is the uncontrolled sale of real estate to third-country nationals. If we do not take effective measures right now, at some point we will discover that our country no longer belongs to us. This is not scaremongering. Other European countries with much larger areas and populations than Cyprus are taking measures to control the real estate market by foreign nationals in order to keep prices down. Here in Cyprus, we are not only ignoring the problem, but are also facilitating the market with “golden visa” programs and other procedures. There are also national security issues, as there are no safeguards for the ownership status concerning critical infrastructures.

It is the government’s responsibility to protect our land. It is the government’s responsibility to ensure that Cyprus will continue to belong to and be controlled by Cypriots in the future, and unfortunately, we do not see it doing so.

AKEL is the only force that has dared to engage in a public and raise the issue for parliamentary debate, and we are already moving forward with a series of legislative initiatives to put a stop to this phenomenon, and everyone will be judged by their stance.”

Our findings regarding the mass sale of land have been confirmed by data provided by institutions and government agencies, such as the Audit Office and the Land Registry.

In keeping with our commitment to take the lead on this important issue, we are here today to present AKEL’s new legislative initiatives, which have a twofold objective: on the one hand, to impose restrictions and scrutiny/control procedures on the phenomenon of uncontrolled and mass sale of Cypriot land to third-country nationals, i.e. to citizens of non-EU countries or companies with foreign interests.

Secondly, to set objective and measurable criteria for the acquisition of real estate, in order to end the discretionary power of successive governments, which led to the abuse of a policy adopted to attract investment and ended up becoming a trade in Cypriot citizenship, the well-known ‘golden passport’ scandal, which is the brainchild of the Anastasiades-DISY government.

Moreover, over the last three years, through the campaigns we have been organizing for affordable housing and the elaboration of a housing policy, talking to citizens and organised groups, we have realized the need to take drastic measures to address distortions and rationalize the laws on the acquisition of real estate by third-country nationals with transparency. Of course, it is imperative to expand, enrich, adapt, and complete a state policy on housing, which is currently inadequate.

The adoption and implementation of our proposals could lead to a gradual rebalancing of the housing market, which for years has been experiencing a ‘bubble’, especially in urban centres. At the same time, it will prevent the continued acquisition of huge tracts of land around areas of vital importance to the security of our country, around critical infrastructures. This is a danger that both the previous and current governments have failed to take into account, in the name of easy but unsustainable growth.

More specifically, AKEL’s new legislative proposals include:

• Ending the possibility of large areas of land being acquired by third-country nationals and companies with interests in third countries
• Introduction of measurable criteria allowing third-country nationals to acquire only one home, one office, and one store, with an area of 200 300 and 200 square metres, respectively, with a complete ban on the acquisition of a home by companies with foreign interests
• Obligation to check and disclose the ultimate beneficial owner in order to prevent the current practice of indirect acquisition of real estate through European or Cypriot companies controlled by foreign nationals.
• Complete ban on the purchase, either through real estate agencies or through assignors, of real estate in areas adjacent to critical infrastructures, with areas of crucial importance for the security of the Republic of Cyprus, such as ports, airports, coastal zones, the ceasefire line, etc.
• Complete ban on the purchase, either through real estate agencies or through assignments, of forest or agricultural land.
• Repeal of existing provisions in legislation that leave room for deliberate misinterpretation or that permit the acquisition of a Cypriot passport or golden visa to be linked to the purchase of real estate.
• Granting the Director of the Land Registry the authority to refuse the filing of sales contracts and assignments that do not meet the criteria set out in our proposals, essentially rendering the transaction invalid.

And at this point I must say that after Cyprus was exposed all over the world as a result of the notorious naturalization program, and after our repeated warnings about the dangers of a program that had serious elements of arbitrariness, non-transparency, and interwoven interests were ignored, the Christodoulides government has now come along, belatedly, to submit prohibitions before the House of Representatives, since we are now in danger of being punished by the EU.

Dear friends,

Through the exercise of parliamentary scrutiny, we have documented what we knew because we live and work in Cypriot society and what we warned about at our Congress. Almost one in two contracts for the sale of Cypriot land involve third-country nationals. In a semi-occupied homeland, the uncontrolled and mass sale of land to third-country nationals does indeed pose a danger. And, yes, this phenomenon contributes to the skyrocketing of real estate prices.

That is precisely why we undertook this legislative initiative, and now all political forces will be judged by the stand they will adopt in Parliament, as will the government of Nikos Christodoulides, which, I remind you, pledged to bring forward corresponding proposals but failed to deliver on its commitments.