From the various reports and the letters that we receive as an Office referring to the various problems, which relate to real estate and with special reference to foreign buyers, we are concerned with people not getting replies from the authorities, delays in permits etc.

We credit the Minister of the Interior Mr Sylikiotis for his efforts to attempt to solve the chronic problems of the local building industry and although we wish him all the best, we doubt that he will reach speedly to a conclusion on this matter. This is because Mr Sylikiotis must turn for advice towards the civil service (Town Planning Office and Lands Department) i.e. the same people that have contributed greatly towards the creation of the prevailing unsatisfactory situation. In a letter we addressed to the Minister, we expressed our doubts to the effectiveness of any measures, since despite the above limitations (civil service) he himself, is, humanly impossible to have the time to deal with all matters. God has given us only 24 hours per day and after allowing for 12 hours non-productive time (sleep etc) a person has 12 hours per day to work. Out of this time the civil service works only up to 14.30 and with the 40 days per year paid sick leave and 30 days p.a. paid leave, Mr Sylikiotis is more or less left on his own. Even if he has some time left, this time must be shared firstly with his political party, the never ending Sunday’s speeches and gatherings, the Council of Ministers meetings, the daily visits by all sorts of people and the extremely wide range of duties, ranging from refugee housing, forest fires, immigration, cabaret permits, town planning, lands office and building industry matters etc. So, other matters apart, how will the situation be resolved timely? For this reason we have suggested to the Government that this ministry and the ministry of Commerce/Industry/Tourism, should have a deputy minister with political power to take care of the everyday matters. Alas, we are informed that this cannot be done due to constitutional limitations and changing the constitution with the Cyprus problem under negotiation as this point of time it cannot be done. So, we are afraid, this state of affairs will continue for the foreseeable future. Having said that, do the local and foreign residents have some sort of a recource?

In a recent case of a client of ours, Nicosia Municipality has delayed unjustly a reply on an application of his for a town planning permit in excess of 2 years. He bought the land for €6.5 mil., but due to the delay he could no longer service the loan for the land acquisition and sold the property at a loss of over €2.0 mil. He decided to take a court action against the Municipality, but he was informed by a well known legal advisor that he had no case based on current law.

Where is then somebody suppose to turn to for some sort of action? We say, turn to the Ombudswoman Mrs Liana Nicolaou. The role of this position is well known throughout Europe and although this Ombudswoman has no legal power to effect her decision, her opinion is taken into consideration seriously by the authorities and especially if a case goes to court, her report is a major tool for a successful claim.

It costs nothing, other than a single letter to her, stating your problem and you will get a prompt reply firstly, informing you whether it is a sort of thing she can deal with and if yes, she will carry out an investigation and submit her report. We say this because a recent report of hers, which slammed the Lands Office for imposing transfer fees on the acquisition price including the V.A.T. She gave a different opinion and in a short period of time the Government has abolished the prevailing system. On this issue we wish to urge our readers that those who have paid transfer fees on V.A.T. can get a refund through the Lands Office on application (no refund will be made other than through application).

So, and unless you have a legal case against local/Governmental authorities you can apply to the Ombudswoman whose important report, you will realize, might get things moving. The last Bastion then? We are afraid yes.

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