North Cyprus
Today is Tuesday, 19th March 2024

Property Construction and Planning

There are certain constructions laws in North Cyprus that must be adhered to if you are planning to buy land and then build a property on it:

Outside the Municipal boundaries, there are restrictions on the area that one can build on in Northern Cyprus (20% of the land area), and a height restriction of two storeys.

There are good architects and engineers who will plan and design your Northern Cyprus villa at reasonable rates.

Once the plans have been lodged with the District Office, work may commence.

Land in Cyprus is measured in donums.
1 donum = 1338 m² or 14400 ft²
1 donum consists of 4 evleks
1 evlek = 3600 ft²
1 acre = 3 donums

Building costs vary, depending on finishing, from £250 per m² upwards. Most buildings are constructed in the reinforced concrete frame system that is prevalent in the Mediterranean countries including North Cyprus. Buildings tend to be over-specified, but this can only be an advantage to the property buyer. Materials are readily available from Turkey, Germany, Italy, Spain and UK.

When buying ‘off-plan’ property in North Cyprus, most constructors allow you to sell on the contract after approximately 25% of the property price has been paid, allowing investors to observe the market and then sell-on to make a profit which, in Northern Cyprus, is not liable to capital gains tax. Again, the longer a property buyer leaves it and makes extra payments, the higher the profit will be. Most Property Investors in Northern Cyprus do this without ever completing on a property.

Construction Standards

All construction activity is subject to a building permit issued by the District Office or Municipality in North Cyprus. Before obtaining the building permit all prepared plans and drawings must be signed by an accredited architect and must then be submitted for a visa by the Chamber of Architects and Civil Engineers.

The Building Permit process requires a full set of electrical drawings that must be followed exactly. There is no building control inspector actively engaged in the control of standards during the actual property construction phase. Therefore unless you are able to regularly check yourself, or employ someone to monitor the construction activity of your villa or house, you are largely in the hands of the construction company.

Construction standards vary so it is a good idea to buy from a North Cyprus company with an established reputation. Before making a purchase decision on something yet to be built, you should examine examples of completed work by the builder involved. It has been said that the standard of finishing work is less than what you would expect to see in the UK. However, do not let this put you off because it is very possible that the construction work itself is of a high standard.

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