Safe haven: low tax rates, citizenship schemes and flats from £179k make this island a compelling choice for home buyers

Cyprus seduces holiday home buyers with £179k apartments, a residency scheme and golf in the sun all year round. 
Home from home: Cyprus is a favourite with British buyers who like the familiarity of driving on the left, English being widely spoken and finding brands they know in shops
Alamy Stock Photo
Cathy Hawker1 October 2018

Autumn is peak time for golfers across Europe — and Cyprus, third-largest island in the Med, has leisure resorts with championship courses where holiday homes start from just £179,000.

Britons were the island’s single largest group of holiday home buyers until 2008 but the global recession, followed by Cyprus’s own banking crisis in 2013, saw a drastic reduction in their numbers.

Now Cyprus has sorted out its financial woes and tourist numbers rose 12 per cent in the first half of this year. However, British house hunters have been replaced by Russian, Chinese, Asian and Middle Eastern buyers, many lured by a government scheme offering permanent residency to anyone spending over £267,000 and full Cypriot citizenship, with access throughout the EU, for those spending £1,782,000 or more.

Developers have responded by building smart flats and expansive waterfront villas, most with prices that cover both government schemes. Cyprus, once offering mainly bargain property, has successfully reinvented itself as a safe sunshine destination with low tax rates, high-quality homes and, for some global citizens, a compelling reason to buy.

“The type of buyer and type of property on offer has changed because of the citizenship programme,” says Georgina Reilly of Select Resorts Properties. “But Cyprus is not the only country in Europe to offer this and it is still the Cypriot resort lifestyle that buyers want, especially round the established tourist centre of Paphos.”

Cyprus offers wonderful weather with an extended summer season, a winning location between Europe and the Middle East, low crime and a strong infrastructure, while British buyers like the familiarity there, says Reilly. English is widely spoken, Cypriots drive on the left, use English plug sockets, stock familiar brands in the supermarkets and have a similar legal and financial framework.

Select Resorts is selling homes at three 18-hole golf courses, all within 30 minutes of Paphos airport in the southwest.

From £739,600: fully-furnished two-bedroom flats at Minthis golf resort, with contemporary detached houses from £935,700. Through Select Resorts

MULTISPORT DESTINATION

Excellent facilities at Aphrodite Hills include Cyprus’s only PGA-certified golf course, a highly rated spa, tennis centre and football academy.

There are 800 finished homes with another 150 planned. New homes start from £445,500 for two-bedroom flats around a communal pool and £757,000 for three-bedroom detached villas. Resales start from £179,000 for a 13-year-old two-bedroom flat. Loucas Kitrou of Aphrodite Hills says 90 per cent of recent purchases were through the government residency scheme and 20 per cent of owners are full-time residents.

From £179,000: two-bedroom resale flats at Aphrodite Hills golf resort, with new two-bedroom flats with shared pool from £445,500 and detached three-bedroom villas from £757,00

YOUNG FAMILIES

Peaceful Minthis, in the hills of a protected nature reserve, is high end, with contemporary architecture. The golf course has an open-plan clubhouse, and a vast spa, wellness and leisure centre and shop-filled village square will open in 2020.

The first owners moved in during 2013 and 150 homes are sold, with over a third to full-time residents. Detached homes range from £935,700 to £1,782,000, with 44 large fully furnished two-bedroom flats at £739,600. Minthis has many young families with children at the nearby International School of Paphos.

ESTABLISHED COMMUNITY

Most owners at Venus Rock are British and bought up to 10 years ago, with 70 per cent of homes occupied year round. There’s an established championship golf course, clubhouse and 600 completed homes. New three-bedroom detached homes start from £445,500 for 1,615sq ft to 2,368sq ft. Similar-size resale homes start at £356,500.