News

Pyla University planned to open in October

Wed, 09 May 2012 22:00:00 GMT

CONSTRUCTION of a modern €53 million campus has begun in Pyla to accommodate the first British university on the island, University of Central Lancashire Cyprus, (UCLan Cyprus).

UCLan Cyprus will open in October this year and students will have the option of studying their programme entirely in Cyprus or transferring for part of their studies to the UK. They expect to have 5,000 students initially. All courses will be taught in English.

“UCLan Cyprus will add strength to Cyprus’ growing Higher Education sector and assist the Cyprus government in further establishing the island as an educational Centre of Excellence in the region and beyond,” said a statement from the university yesterday.

The University plans to establish a number of international research centres, and engage with local and international communities and industries.

Faculties will include business, law, computing and maths.

UCLan Cyprus is now accepting applications for the academic year 2012–2013, which will commence on October 2.

For more information contact the Admissions Office by email at: admissions@uclancyprus.ac.cy, or by phone at 24812121.

Prospective students can also visit the office building at 15 Stratigou Timayia, Linda Court, 1st Floor, 6051 Larnaca from Wednesday February 15.

A complete website will be established before the end of this month.

The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) was established in 1828.

It is the seventh largest University in the UK with 35,000 students, and contributes £300 million annually to the regional economy of the North West of England. It has been voted the leading modern university in the North West of England for the last five years. It is also the first Modern University in the UK to be listed in the QS World Rankings in 2010.

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Property market on the Island of Crete

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 22:00:00 GMT

After much negative publicity regarding the Greek economy, the real estate market on Crete is showing signs of recovery. Always popular with holiday makers, Crete has been for a number of years now a popular location to purchase a second home, or an idyllic island on which to retire.

The recent Greek Government agreements with the European Troika of money lenders has immediately helped to stabilise the economy and remove fears of Greece leaving the Euro zone. Tourism figures for 2011 showed and increase to Greece of over 10% and if as expected that trend continues, there is sure to be a rise in property sales. Certainly there has been an increase in enquiries by property purchasers during the start of 2012. As Panos panagiotopoulos, manager of Purple in Crete says, "We have a more encouraging start to the year than in many previous years, and I expect that trend to continue. Property prices are very competitive on the Island, and combined with great weather, good fresh food and a very low crime rate, I am sure that we will see a good number of properties sold on Crete"

Contact Purple in Greece for further information.

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Buy Now To Qualify For No Title Deed Transfer Fees!

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 22:00:00 GMT

After MPs voted unanimously to abolish/reduce property transfer fees for a period of six months, the amended law has finally been published in the Cyprus Government Gazette. Changes to the law designed to help stimulate sales of new property by abolishing and reducing property transfer fees for a period of six months have finally been agreed and published.

The changes came into effect on Friday 2nd December 2011 and will remain in force until 2nd May 2012 (6 months). The reduction only applies to the first sale of a property (includes: off plan, under construction & key ready properties. Excludes: resale/previously owned property). The reduction in transfer fees is applicable for contracts of sale lodged at the land registry offices during the above mentioned period and irrespective of when the actual title deeds are ready to be transferred. There are 2 categories of reduction: 1. Properties that include VAT on their purchase, no transfer fees are payable. 2. Properties exempt from VAT on their purchase, transfer fees are reduced by 50%.

The bill does not have retroactive effect and there are provisions in the law to prevent abuse, for example, buyers withdrawing contracts of sale deposited at the Land Registry for Specific Performance and then re-depositing them to change the date.

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Med Golf and Marina

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 22:00:00 GMT

Construction began January 10th 2011 on the long awaited medgolf Larnaca Golf Resort and Country Club at Tersephanou.

Established in 2004, Medgolf is a group of professionals in the leisure, tourism and real estate industry. DJK Corporation and G. Hassapis Holdings are the Major companies involved.

The Resort will span an area of 1,500,000m² and feature an international 18 hole golf course designed by the world’s leading golf course architects – European Golf Design. The course promises to be challenging and the landscaping includes special water features, bunkers and fairways. The course will cover an area of 615,000m² with a total length of 6,157 yards.

The resort will also feature the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) National Golf Academy of Cyprus. The First PGA Golf Academy in Cyprus, it will cover over 270,000m² and include a Practice Driving Range, 3 and 4 Par coaching holes, a Clubhouse and additional sporting facilities. The PGA will oversee the management of the golf course and ensure the resort is added to their list of European destinations. The academy will also instruct children.

The €350m project will be completed in three stages. The first stage, which will include the golf course, the clubhouse and the desalination plant, will take 18 to 24 months. The second stage will be the building of approximately 250 villas and 150 apartments. The third stage will be the completion of the villas. The project is expected to take approximately five to six years. Demes Karapatikis chairman of the DJK Group said “we will definitely go in spite of the economic situation. After seven years, it’s a dream come true. I would like to see Cyprus as a golf destination. I think that the golf of Larnaca will be one of a kind. I’d be happy to see more golf clubs coming up”

DJK and the Hassapis Group are also involved in building a 150 – berth private yacht resort in Mazotos - The Med Marina Resort. Members of the Golf resort will be able to become members of the yacht club and use the facilities – including apartments and the planned 60-bed boutique hotel.

Karapatakis sees projects such as the new golf resort having an extremely positive impact: “Larnaca will gain a lot from this project. Larnaca has the international airport, it will have the biggest tennis facilities in Europe and the biggest marina and port redevelopment in the Mediterranean.”

“it’s the most beautiful town and my wish is to encourage more business people to come to Larnaca to invest with us, to join forces to build hotels because we cannot do everthing. We believe in this town and we would like to see more enthusiastic people with courage.”

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At last - some good news for the Cyprus property market!

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 22:00:00 GMT

Recent figures from the Department of Lands and Surveys show that 1,316 property transfers took place at District Lands Offices throughout Cyprus during June 2011 which is a notable increase of over 100, on the number that took place in May 2011.

Cyprus’ Interior Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis noted that there is now the possibility of issuing Title Deeds at the rate of 1,200 a month and 25,000 annually by reducing cumbersome procedures and making the system faster.

“This is very good news for the Cyprus property market”, says Kim Brown, Director of Overseas Guides Company (OGC), www.OverseasGuidesCompany.com specialists in writing unbiased Guides for buyers of properties abroad.

“Sadly, the difficulty in securing Title Deeds has been a major problem to purchasers of property in Cyprus for far too long with some owners waiting over ten years to receive their Title Deeds! You can sell your home in Cyprus without Title Deeds, but it’s not as easy.”

In 2011 so far, 6,213 transfers of property have taken place. These properties had a declared sale price of €953,715,113.69, which the District Lands Offices uplifted to an accepted price of €1,027,779,359.71; an increase of 7.8%.

“This increase in “value” of homes is another anomaly from the Cyprus Government” adds Kim, “where they “upgrade” property values thereby securing a higher rate of tax.”

“Cyprus does have a lot that appeals to the British not least good weather, driving on the left, low crime rates, friendly people most of whom speak English and the island has attracted thousands of British ex pats over the years. Currently prices of properties are still low following the world recession, so those wanting a new life style should consider securing a well priced property in 2011 rather than waiting until next year when most pundits predict a steadying of the property market which inevitably brings price rises in due course.

It is also interesting to note that enquiries for our Cyprus Guides have shown an increase of 114% during the months of April, May and June, a sure sign that more British people are seriously considering a purchase there.”

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