Cheap Property rentals of TC property in Paphos
Posted: Thu 18 Aug 2016 12:19 pm
Paphos district officer Mary Lambrou defended on Wednesday the interior ministry’s decision to increase the rent on Turkish Cypriot properties which are being used as holiday homes, mostly in the Paphos area.
“The ministry’s decision is justified given that these properties were given for use more than two decades ago at very low rent,” she said.
She was responding to Tuesday’s protest in the village of Ayios Ioannis, by some 200 Greek Cypriots who rent Turkish Cypriot properties, over the government’s recent decision to increase the monthly rent.
The protesters were accompanied by the head of the House Refugee Committee, Skevi Koukouma, and other MPs. The protesters also sent a letter to Interior Minister Socratis Hasikos asking him to reconsider “especially at a time when everyone is talking about pay cuts,” and requested a meeting with him.
They also wrote to Ombudswoman Eliza Savvidou, asking for her intervention as there had been no consultation with them. Koukouma told the Cyprus News Agency that in the new contracts, in addition to the rent increase, users of the properties were asked to consent to a seven per cent rent increase every two years.
The interior ministry, as the designated Guardian of Turkish Cypriot properties, has announced that those who used to pay €10 a month would now pay €25. Those paying between €11 and €20 will now pay €35. Property renting from between €21 and €30 will now be €45, while for those paying more than €31, the rent has increased to €50.
Following the 1974 Turkish invasion, vacant Turkish Cypriot properties were allocated to refugees under the proviso that the rights of the rightful owners – the Turkish Cypriots – were not overlooked once there was a solution to the Cyprus problem.
But many Turkish Cypriot properties, particularly those in isolated Paphos villages, remained empty and in deteriorating condition, so in the early 1990s the interior ministry introduced another policy, renting out properties at very low prices to both refugees and non-refugees, as long as the tenants assumed restoration costs. These properties, most of them now restored, are usually used as holiday homes.
Protesters said they had spent a lot of money over the years to fix the properties and brought life back to deserted communities.
Koukouma said that during a committee discussion before parliament’s summer recess, the deputy head of the Guardian of Turkish Cypriot Properties, Makis Economides, told MPs that a raise was in order as users have recouped restoration expenses because they have been using the properties for so many years.
She said that the interior ministry should put off implementing the rent increase until a study for the wider management of Turkish Cypriot properties – covering residences, land and commercial property – was completed. The study is expected to be ready by the end of the year.
But Lambrou said that the low rent for more than two decades justified an increase now.
The average monthly rent was €8, Lambrou said, which also covered enough outer space for a courtyard or cultivation.
“The ministry’s decision is justified given that these properties were given for use more than two decades ago at very low rent,” she said.
She was responding to Tuesday’s protest in the village of Ayios Ioannis, by some 200 Greek Cypriots who rent Turkish Cypriot properties, over the government’s recent decision to increase the monthly rent.
The protesters were accompanied by the head of the House Refugee Committee, Skevi Koukouma, and other MPs. The protesters also sent a letter to Interior Minister Socratis Hasikos asking him to reconsider “especially at a time when everyone is talking about pay cuts,” and requested a meeting with him.
They also wrote to Ombudswoman Eliza Savvidou, asking for her intervention as there had been no consultation with them. Koukouma told the Cyprus News Agency that in the new contracts, in addition to the rent increase, users of the properties were asked to consent to a seven per cent rent increase every two years.
The interior ministry, as the designated Guardian of Turkish Cypriot properties, has announced that those who used to pay €10 a month would now pay €25. Those paying between €11 and €20 will now pay €35. Property renting from between €21 and €30 will now be €45, while for those paying more than €31, the rent has increased to €50.
Following the 1974 Turkish invasion, vacant Turkish Cypriot properties were allocated to refugees under the proviso that the rights of the rightful owners – the Turkish Cypriots – were not overlooked once there was a solution to the Cyprus problem.
But many Turkish Cypriot properties, particularly those in isolated Paphos villages, remained empty and in deteriorating condition, so in the early 1990s the interior ministry introduced another policy, renting out properties at very low prices to both refugees and non-refugees, as long as the tenants assumed restoration costs. These properties, most of them now restored, are usually used as holiday homes.
Protesters said they had spent a lot of money over the years to fix the properties and brought life back to deserted communities.
Koukouma said that during a committee discussion before parliament’s summer recess, the deputy head of the Guardian of Turkish Cypriot Properties, Makis Economides, told MPs that a raise was in order as users have recouped restoration expenses because they have been using the properties for so many years.
She said that the interior ministry should put off implementing the rent increase until a study for the wider management of Turkish Cypriot properties – covering residences, land and commercial property – was completed. The study is expected to be ready by the end of the year.
But Lambrou said that the low rent for more than two decades justified an increase now.
The average monthly rent was €8, Lambrou said, which also covered enough outer space for a courtyard or cultivation.