Cyprus Legislation | Purchasing Property
5 years October 6, 2018
The Selling or Disposal of State Land in Cyprus: Definition & Practice
This article sums up the process of disposing of state land in Cyprus; the procedure to be followed by the courts; key factors considered and how the land in question is classified as belonging to the state, or privately owned.
The disposal of state land is regulated by Cyprus Immovable Property Legislation, and can only be carried out after being presented before the Cyprus Council of Ministers. The act of the government when deciding to dispose of state land is considered as management of the private property of the State and falls into the sphere of private rather than public law.
The meaning of the word ‘disposal’ in Cyprus legislation regulations includes any of the following activities of the Republic in any manner, including the following:
- Granting of immovable property.
- Leasing of land and/or premises.
- Exchanging of immovable property.
- Alienating all or any parts of land or immovable property.
- Granting of access to land or property using a license for usage.
A recent case regarding a proprietor of a plot that was joined to state owned land; and made an application to rent his portion for agricultural purposes (Regulation 5 (c) Agricultural purposes or stock farming, see below). His claim was rejected in light of the fact that it was not secured by the provisions in Regulation 5 because the land was located in a town privately created for the purpose of the construction of a vacation complex. The claimant additionally permanently resides abroad and did not fit the title of professional Farmer or Agriculturist.
The Council of Ministers ultimately ruled that the land didn’t satisfy sufficient promotion of public interest and as a result, constituted management of land belonging to the state and therefore the case fell within the private law sphere, rather than a contractual act falling within public law to be disposed of as detailed above.
The fundamental foundation for the qualification between demonstrations of open law and acts of private law is simply the demonstration of its intended purpose.
The special regulations describe the circumstances under which a piece of land belonging to the state can be disposed in more detail. Its governing is also controlled by Regulation 5 and can be legitimately executed in the following situations:
- The disposal of small plots of land.
- Adjusting the boundaries of one or more adjacent pieces of land for the improvement of the roads.
- Disposal or lease of land for public benefit.
- Disposal for agricultural purposes and for stock farming.
- Disposal for residence, tourist and industrial purposes.
- Exchanging state land with private property exceptionally for the purpose of aligning.
Read more about using mutual wills to dispose of property in Cyprus.
Eltoma Property have local Solicitors on hand to assist with any queries regarding the sale or disposal of property or land in Cyprus, contact us for more information.