No.138
Q.: We have your article "Insurable Value & Replacement Cost" which appeared in the Polis and Latchi Free Magazine during 2007 and we have also referred to your internet article "The Cost of Building a House in Cyprus".

We are at present updating our existing insurance cover and searching for the current replacement/rebuilding cost per square metre in Euros for a seven year old flat in the Polis (Paphos) area of Cyprus and wonder if you are able to advise us of an approximate figure please?

Any help you can give would be much appreciated.

Denis and Janet Thornton



A.: You have to apply the rates given in my articles my friends. Use the cost formula and add 20% for unforeseen etc – we could provide you with a “proper” estimate, but for a fee I am afraid (we have to make a living!!).
Best regards,

A.P. Loizou


3/29146-td
14.9.09

No.140
Sir,

Q.: Can you please send me the law concerning roof gardens?
It can be in Greek or English language as I am Cypriot.
I have been told by someone that you can not solely own a roof garden as is a commonly used area; however the developer who sold me the flat had included the roof garden on the contract. So according to the contract I own the roof garden. That was the ONLY reason I bought the flat. If that is the case and I am finally not entitled to the roof garden, then the contract is invalid and I am definitely going to sue his company. I am not willing to wait for 2-3 years for the title deed to state that I just own the flat and not the roof garden having spent over 260.000 euro in Lacatamia and everyone can cook their own souvlaki over my head and then use the ladder to come downstairs and take a piss in MY flat.

I hope you can send the required information.


Kind regards,
Tio


A.: If your sales contract defines the roof garden as you own, then it is yours and this should be so registered in the title. Bring up the subject with the developer (I hope he did not include the same roof garden to the other purchasers). There is no such thing that the roof garden belongs to everybody. It depends on the sales contract, but there are other parameters regarding maintenance of the roof garden etc. So if it is yours, you have to maintain it etc.

Regards

A.P. Loizou
 

No.141
Q.: Thank you for your informative article in last weeks Cy weekly [As is usual].
My house in Miliou is built on agricultural land from a time when the building factor was 5% [17 years ago]. Can I now subdivide as you describe, & apply to build another house specifically for my son.
Thanking you in anticipation.
Pete Robinson


A.: I need more details but our article is quite comprehensive. Study it again and I am sure your questions will be answered. If more information is needed however, it must be on a fee basis, unfortunately. Thank you for your lovely comments.

Regards,

A.P. Loizou



3/29170-td
14.9.09

No.143
Q.: Thank you Mr Editor for having Antonis Loizou giving his opinion on all sort of things and reply to everybody without charging anything. Antonis Loizou is well known for his low key and sound advice, but a “well done” must be expressed towards yourself Mr Editor for hosting such a most useful and informative column. Keep up the excellent work you are doing.
Gordon Brown

A.: My dear sir, surely you are not “The” G.B., the U.K.’s prime minister (although I must admit I wish you were, since my “share” value will go up in value!!). Surely this is for the Editor to reply, but expressing both sentiments, we wish to thank you. Keep reading this paper, we have a lot to tell in the future.
Regards,
A.P. Loizou



3/29159-td
14.9.09

No.144
Q.: Who is responsible for the maintenance of roads Mr Loizou? We live in a project and after 20 years the roads need resurfacing. We do not know where to direct our letters, to the local authority or to the developer or to the administrative committee? Regarding the local authority about this subject, it ignores us and it says it is not their responsibility. Somebody must be responsible. Dear Mr Loizou we need your help. Keep up the good work. We love this paper and your Q+A column.
Arlene + George Godfry

A.: If it is a public road the local authority (Municipality if it is a Municipality or the District Office if it is a rural area) is responsible. If it is a private road (e.g. a project with private roads, then it is the administrative committee). So check which of the two it is. If it is a public road to be (i.e. a road not yet accepted as such by the local authority), it is the developer’s responsibility for at least 12 months after delivery of the project. From there on the administrative committee, provided of course the road was done in accord with the building permit conditions.
I am aware that 80% of the times local authorities do not respond even with a typical “thank you” letter and this is especially evident if it is forthcoming from foreign residents (regrettably). So, if you do not get a response, write a letter through a solicitor (it gets them worried at least) and if this fails and sticking my neck out let me know, perhaps I can help out with regard to the local authorities. Our Q+A column does wonders on certain occasions. This is one way to get the office unpopular, but I feel we have a mission of a sort, dear friends.
Regards,
A.P. Loizou

3/29161-td
14.9.09

No.145
Q.: Why do you refuse to publish my thank you letter to you? I write for the 3rd time to thank you publicly for helping me in a court case at Larnaca Court regarding my dog problem.
Mrs J.K.

A.: I receive something like 7-10 letters per week, some relating to real estate and others on personal matters. It is up to the Editor of this paper to publish the Q+A letters. However I reply to all on an individual basis in addition to the Q+A column. Mainly this paper is here to help whoever seeks our advice, but at the same time we have to earn our living I am afraid J.K. Being in a small country, where we know each other (this is a bad and a good thing) we can detect the ill going ons. At least you have through this paper a “friendly ear”. Imagine what happens in big countries, where one has nowhere to turn to. Who said that a small country has no plusses?
Regards,
A.P. Loizou



3/29158-td
15.9.09

No.146
Q.: Being a “matured” as you say person, who must remember the “Gang of 4” after Mao’s death, relating to his wife etc, attempting to turn China back in the strict communist era of China. I refer to this since I have read 2 unsigned letters by the Voroklini “Gang of 2” against your person. How dare they Mr Loizou. Don’t they know of you and your past history on the subject of support that you are giving especially to foreign residents?
Leslie McDonald

A.: My dear Leslie, I hope that you are of the McDonald’s family food chain and perhaps I get a discount at least for my wife and son, who are sold to this chain (regrettably not me since I am a souglakia chap). Having said that and joking apart, anyone who writes publicly must be careful in his expressions, since he/she must expect an answer. The gang of 2 or 4 or whatever gang there is, there is no problem for me, as long as it is done in a civilized and non abusive way. This is what Democracy is all about dear Leslie.
Regards,
A.P. Loizou

3/29162-td
15.9.09

No.147
Q.: I am alarmed by the Cyprus Government decision to uprout thousands of hectares of vines, offering at the same time compensation to the farmers. Don’t you think that this will be a disaster to the environment and in addition to the reduction of green, the consequential soil erosion and lack of employment in those locations, which suffer from this? Is there a logic behind this Mr Loizou?
Harry Grand

A.: I agree with your observations Harry, but I think that this is an E.U. decision to reduce the problem of undisposed wine for which the Government is called upon to pay compensation etc. Not only it will be a disaster for the environment, but even planting new vines is not allowed. In a project that we manage at Pissouri, which is situated in a vine planted area, we proposed to the local authority to plant the “public” green with vines and we had this “grand” idea at the time that we could produce wine with the project’s name for the residents’ benefit and enjoyment. Alas, we were turned down!!
Joining the E.U. has brought a lot of benefits to Cyprus, but decisions which are taken by the super Government in Brussels, as it appears, it has other considerations in mind. What a shame Harry indeed.
Regards,
A.P. Loizou

No.148
Q.: I watch in horror the goings on in the walled city of Nicosia between the various Muslim fractions and the violence that has errupted recently. I very much fear this is just the beginning since as the Muslim population increases, with the immigration from Muslim countries, as well as the thousand of Muslim existing foreign workers, the situation, I expect, will get more difficult. What I am particularly worried is that the walled city is gradually turning into a ghetto and this will destroy the efforts that are being undertaken by the Government and private enterprise and all these will go down the drain – Your views please Mr Loizou please.
Stelios Spiros

A.: I am worried myself as I believe the Government is, particularly on the effect that this situation will have on the real estate within the walled city. It will be serious and I am afraid it will discourage further investments within this much needed area and it might/will cause the local native population to move out by an even larger number. I am aware of the town planning department study in order to reduce the chance of the walled city becoming a ghetto and we will have to see its ideas-proposals. If by one way or another the immigrant/foreign workers who now live in the walled city move out, they will evidently move into the more modern residential areas, so the problem will be moved from one location to another. In a recent inspection of an apartment within the more fashionable Hilton area of Nicosia, we found out that the apartment was occupied by 8 Pakistani tenants!! This kind of difficulty is more evident in other countries such as Paris (see the troubles) and it is a repetition of the problem that New York with the Bronx district, whereas the Athens recent riots by immigrants and that of Denmark is another cause of concern. It is a very delicate situation, since one must follow the E.U. regulations/human rights and local attitudes (see Italy with the Romans). Lets keep our fingers crossed and hope that Cyprus being a small country might have less problems to face. Difficult to predict the future dear friend Stelios, but, I am worried too.
Regards,
A.P. Loizou

 

No.149
Q.: I have read a rather abusive letter written by a certain person from Voroklini village, accusing you for all sorts of things on the title deed issue and ending up accusing you “……. What have you done about the titles issue …..”. Could you please, for my own piece of mind, state your contribution towards solving this serious problem Mr Loizou?
Ann Tracy

A.: I rarely reply to people who write publicly and are not using their names, just two initials. People who are afraid to use their name, but have no problem expressing all sorts of empathy in public, must have a problem with themselves. There must be an Oroklini village “gang” since I receive 3-4 letters with the same spirit and style of writing (may be it is the same person using different initials) who are assuming that I am either a Governmental Minister, or that I have a direct involvement in Government.
In order to reply to your question, I can only suggest that you look into our office’s website and in particular if you manage to study our Greek articles, you will realize that I have taken on this problem practically on my own over the last 10 year period. I am the only “local” who has arranged an open seminar with foreign property buyers at Paphos, with the presence of the Minister of the Interior, whereas my deed proposals have now been adopted by almost 70% by the 4 new proposed legislations on the subject. A recent conference offered by our Office on the 22.8.09 with the Minister of Interior attending, this issue was discussed at length and I believe that the Government’s recent move on the deed issue is the result of all this pressure and contacts that I, together with others, we exercising.
I hope that I have placed your mind in piece Ann. Thank you however for your concern and raising this issue, giving me the opportunity to clear the air to the extent that I can in this Q+A column.
Regards,
A.P. Loizou

No.150
Unpublished letters
Q.: Looking at your Q+A column on your website and reading at the same time your Q+A column in this lovely paper, we noted that approximately 70% of your letters are not published. Any reason for this Mr Loizou?
Andrew & Beth Shark

A.: I do not think so my friends. It is just the availability of space and how much space the Editor will devote for this. I get surely 7-10 letters per week and I try to answer to all, both directly and through the paper, hence the difference of the two.
Regards,
A.P. Loizou


3/29137-td
16.9.09

Νο.151
Dear Mr Loizou

Q.: Any advice on how to handle the following problem would be appreciated greatly.

We have lived in this very small village (about 24 permanent residents) for over 3 years and are concerned, therefore, that any action we may take will be taken in a Cypriot way as we enjoy living here, have good relations with other residents and would like to keep it that way by working within the Cypriot culture.

We have an old road running along the side of our garden which is only used occasionally by one or two residents. One day in June I heard a lot of noise from there and assumed that the road was being prepared for paving as most other roads in the village have been paved recently, however, the next day when I went in to the garden I discovered that what had really been happening was that the banked edge of the garden, between 1 and 1.5 metres, had been dug away leaving a vertical drop of some 3 or 4 metres. (Prior to this there was a steep bank covered in wild grasses and scrub that held it in place.) During this process an old pipe (apparently at one time used for providing the water to the central village supply) had been dug up and twisted in to my garden demolishing 3 large cacti and knocking a few branches off a young olive tree. (The photograph shows the pipe after I had managed to move it slightly away from the olive tree.)

We had had no notice that this work was planned.

I contacted the Mukhtar who came to inspect. He didn’t seem to think there was a problem with the way the garden had been left and merely said I could replant some cacti. He did tell me that the work done was in preparation for a wall to be built. He also said he would get the pipe cut away.

The wall has now been built (height approximately 1.6 metres) and, as can be seen from attached photos, is nowhere near the height of the garden, and has left the edge of the garden as a sheer drop with nothing to support it as there is a gap of 1 to 1.5 metres between the wall and the side of the garden.

I contacted the Mukhtar again explaining my concern that the vertical side of the garden would gradually be washed away by rain (the road is on a slope and it seems likely that water from up the hill will cause erosion at the bottom as well as the effect of rain falling directly on it). His response was that it would not be a problem but if it should become a problem then he would do something about it. Of course, by then it will be a bit late. He also said I could fill the gap in myself if I wanted to. I also mentioned the fact that the pipe is still sticking up and, again, he said that he would get it cut off. It is nearly 3 months now since this matter was first raised and nothing has been done.

In England I would know exactly who to approach and how to handle the situation but it seems that here the Mukhtar is the sole point of contact on matters like this. Do I have a legitimate complaint about the state my garden has been left in and, if so, is there another authority I can approach?

I have attempted to show the effect of the changes in the attached photographs but it is difficult to get a good picture of the gap because of the height of the wall.

If this is something your firm could help with perhaps you could indicate if there is a particular office that I should approach. I live approximately half way between Limassol and Larnaca with Nicosia not much further away.

We really enjoy the way of life here and hope there is an amicable way out of this situation.

We enjoy your straight forward speaking in the Cyprus Weekly and hope you can clarify what, if anything, we can do about our problem.

Yours sincerely
Ted Moore


A.: Thank you for your letter and I must say that I respect your sensitivity on the subject. The “man” to see is the District Officer and in particular the person in charge of the village from the District Office. A similar letter addressed to the District Officer asking for an interview will help. Should you wish to build up a more “professional” case, we could send one of our engineers, in order to ascertain whether the dropt will be problem or not. Should you so wish we could have a joint inspection with the Muchtar. Based on our findings report etc you can take the matter further. I must make it clear however that our inspection/report/further steps will be on a fee basis (I am afraid).
Best regards and thank you for your comments regarding our Cyprus Weekly writings.
Regards,
A.P. Loizou



3/29173-td
18.9.09

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