New IPL for communal living jointly owned buildings

Cyprus parliament resumes debate on jointly-owned buildings bill

By Nigel Howarth- September 26, 2025

Jointly-Owned Buildings (Nicosia) Cyprus

The Cyprus Parliament has restarted discussions on a new bill to regulate jointly-owned buildings such as apartment blocks and housing complexes. The aim is for the law to be voted on before the end of the current parliamentary session.

AKEL MP Aristos Damianou, who chairs the Parliamentary Committee on Internal Affairs, said that although a law has existed for many years, it was never properly applied. Key parts of the old law, like the creation of management committees, were simply not enforced.

A fresh 80-page proposal has now been put forward. Damianou admitted a lot of technical work has gone into the draft but warned that even the best-written laws are useless if they cannot be applied in practice.

The debate will continue next week. However, Damianou said the bill still has issues that need detailed discussion before it can pass.

DIPA MP Marinos Moushouttas reminded that the government first submitted the bill in 2023, but it was sent back for further talks with stakeholders. He explained that it now combines three different proposals, all focused on improving how management committees operate and clarifying their legal powers.

He noted that Cyprus has around 200,000 jointly-owned buildings – home to nearly half of the country’s population. Yet, problems like unpaid communal fees, disputes between neighbours, and poor building maintenance remain common.

The aim of the new law is to make sure everyone pays their fair share and meets their responsibilities. At the same time, another related bill on dangerous buildings will be debated, addressing safety concerns such as falling balconies.

Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou welcomed the renewed debate. He stressed that fixing disputes in jointly-owned buildings has been a government priority since 2023.

According to the Minister, the new law will:

Set out clear rights and obligations for owners and tenants.

Create a compulsory Reserve (Sinking) Fund for unplanned/unscheduled repairs and maintenance.

Give management committees more power and responsibility.

Make insurance for buildings and individual units mandatory.

Ioannou added that unpaid communal fees and a lack of insurance have left many buildings unsafe, creating risks for both residents and the public. He thanked MPs and stakeholders for working together on the draft and said he hopes it will soon become law.

Source Cyprus Property News

Communal fees: The crisis in Cyprus’ jointly-owned buildings

By Nigel Howarth- October 4, 2025

Cyprus communal fee payment for jointly-owned buildings

It’s been more than two years since a bill was drafted, designed to resolve longstanding issues and challenges in the management of jointly-owned buildings, and published for public consultation.

The bill, which has transformed into three bills has received numerous calls for amendments from interested parties including the Cyprus Association of Jointly-Owned Managers (SYDIKOIK), the Association of Cyprus Banks (ACB) and the Cyprus Real Estate Registration Council.

Yet none of these interested parties has fully addressed the most critical issue – communal fee payments.

Jointly-owned buildings in crisis

From the correspondence I receive, the most persistent and damaging challenge faced by Management Committees of jointly-owned buildings is the outright refusal of certain owners to pay their communal fees.

This behaviour directly jeopardizes the insurance, maintenance, and proper operation of buildings, while unfairly transferring the financial burden onto responsible owners who fulfil their obligations.

Management Committees must have immediate and reliable access to funds to perform their core duties — including insuring the building and carrying out essential repairs & maintenance works. Without an enforceable system for prompt payment, Management Committees are effectively set up to fail.

The problem is further aggravated by the widespread absence of Title Deeds for thousands of properties, which makes it impossible to lodge memos or pursue standard enforcement measures.

In many cases, the only option left to Management Committees remains the courts, a route so costly and slow that it offers no solution to the immediate need for communal fees.

In cases where banks have repossessed units within jointly-owned buildings, those banks must assume responsibility for the payment of all communal fees associated with repossessed units. The same obligation must also apply to credit acquiring companies  (vulture funds) or asset management entities that have acquired distressed loan portfolios from banks. Failure to enforce this responsibility creates serious inequities and further deprives Management Committees of the funds necessary for building upkeep and safety.

In certain cases, the property owner may have passed away. In such circumstances, the executor or administrator of the deceased’s estate must settle any outstanding communal fees, which are then deducted from the estate before distribution to the beneficiaries.

If legislative reform is to be meaningful, it must equip Management Committees with robust and practical enforcement powers that ensure the timely collection of communal fees. Anything less will merely paper over the cracks, addressing the symptoms without resolving the underlying cause. Stronger provisions — such as administrative enforcement mechanisms, financial sanctions, or expedited recovery procedures — are essential to safeguard the long-term sustainability and integrity of jointly-owned buildings.

That said, there will inevitably be cases where owners are genuinely unable to pay due to severe financial hardship arising from illness or loss of income. Such cases must be handled with compassion, and flexible repayment arrangements should be arranged through mediation services to ensure fairness without undermining the collective interest.

Source Cyprus Property News

Jointly-owned buildings: management committees & Title Deeds

By Nigel Howarth- October 8, 2025

Cyprus management committees meeting

Following my rant last week on communal fees for jointly-owned buildings in Cyprus, I’ve been contacted by several property owners facing another frustrating issue – the mistaken belief that they cannot establish management committees because they have yet to receive the Title Deeds for their properties.

In such cases, owners continue to pay regular maintenance fees to their property developers, ostensibly for the upkeep and repair of their buildings. However, many report a complete lack of transparency regarding how these fees are calculated or where and how the money is spent. Numerous owners describe the maintenance work as both substandard and overpriced compared with what friends in similar developments are paying.

In some developments, owners have reported that developers are not contributing towards communal fees for unsold units, even though the units are fully finished and ready for occupation.

Meanwhile, a few others say that individuals who obtained their homes through antiparochi agreements are refusing to pay communal fees altogether.

(Antiparochi refers to an arrangement between a landowner and a property developer, whereby the landowner exchanges land for a certain number of completed units on that land – no money changes hands.)

The law relating to management committees

Under CAP 224 – The Immovable Property (Occupation, Registration and Valuation) Law, an ‘owner’ is defined as:

“The person entitled to be registered as the owner of any immovable property, whether or not it is so registered.”

Section 38 of this law governs Buildings under Joint Ownership, setting out the rules and regulations for managing apartment blocks and communal complexes in Cyprus.

This means that even if a buyer has not yet received the Title Deed for their property, they can still form a Management Committee, provided that the building itself has been registered as a jointly-owned building with the Land Registry.

Proposed legal changes

If the revised law is approved, the requirement for registration in the Land Registry may be replaced with a simpler condition – that the building must at least have a valid building and subdivision permit.

This change would enable property buyers to establish management committees much earlier, possibly many years earlier – long before the jointly-owned building is formally registered, and Title Deeds are issued.

Jointly-owned buildings insurance

The rules concerning insurance for jointly-owned buildings are also set to change.

Under the current law:

“The Management Committee must insure, and keep insured at all times, the jointly-owned building against fire, lightning and earthquake…”

The revised law proposes the following amendment:

“The Management Committee must insure, and keep insured at all times, the jointly-owned building against fire, explosion, lightning, flood, water leakage from a tank, appliance or pipe, and earthquake…”

Additionally, the revised law will require public liability insurance:

“The Management Committee must maintain public liability insurance for a jointly-owned building, for an amount it deems appropriate.”

A new provision also clarifies that:

“Unit owners have the right to take out insurance for the contents of their individual units.”

Hopefully, the updated legislation will put an end to the arguably unlawful practice adopted by some management committees, which only insure the jointly-owned property (i.e. the parts of the building not registered as individual units) rather than the entire jointly-owned building.