Trapped Buyers in Cyprus: How Law 110(I)/2025 Works
Law 110(I)/2025 reopened the route to title deeds for Cyprus buyers who paid in full but were blocked by a developer's mortgage. It covers older contracts only, depends on bank consent or a court order, and comes with tight deadlines.
By RealDeal team · 5 min read · Published 8 Oct 2026
Contents
"Trapped buyers" are people who paid a developer in full for a property in Cyprus but never received a title deed, usually because the developer had mortgaged the land to a bank. Law 110(I)/2025 amends the Immovable Property (Transfer and Mortgage) Law of 1965 and sets out a new way to resolve these cases. Parliament passed it in June 2025, and it was published in the Official Gazette on 4 July 2025 (Michael Kyprianou).
The law is a real step forward, but it is not automatic, it does not cover every case, and its deadlines are short.
Why a new law was needed
Cyprus first addressed the problem with Law 139(I)/2015. It let a buyer who had paid and deposited the contract ask the Land Registry to transfer the title and lift the developer's encumbrances, and more than 11,000 deeds were issued under it. On 20 June 2024 the Court of Appeal (Civil Appeal 285/2018) ruled the key provisions unconstitutional, because they removed creditors' security without their consent. Some 9,497 pending applications froze (Cyprus Mail).
The 2025 law restores the mechanism, but this time a creditor's rights can only be overridden with its written consent or by a court order.
Who is covered
- Older contracts only. The sale contract must have been deposited with the Land Registry by 31 December 2014, or deposited later under a court order applied for by 31 December 2024.
- Price paid. The court route against a creditor's refusal is open only where the full price has been paid. If part of the price is still owed, the buyer must pay it into a special temporary account; the law extended that period from 30 to 60 days after the Land Registry's notice (John Theodorou).
The law is designed for the backlog. It is not a safety net for anyone buying today.
Three situations, three outcomes
Title deed exists, no mortgage
This is the simplest case: typically the developer has gone insolvent or disappeared, and there is no creditor to satisfy. The Land Registry can transfer the deed, and these files should move fastest.
Title deed exists, but the land is mortgaged
The bank must agree in writing to release the unit, and in practice it usually asks each buyer for a payment towards the developer's debt. If the bank refuses and the buyer has paid in full, the buyer can apply to court within 45 days for an order declaring the refusal abusive and unjustified. The order does not cancel the mortgage; it takes the place of the bank's consent so the Land Registry can proceed. Once it is filed, other proceedings over the property, including foreclosure, are suspended (Cyprus Mail).
The weak point: the law does not define "abusive" or "unjustified", no court had ruled on it as of mid-2026, and banks argue that the override is itself unconstitutional.
No title deed yet
The procedure can transfer a deed that exists, but it cannot create one. Issuing a deed is a separate process that often stalls on missing permits or planning violations. Where issuing one is feasible, the buyer or developer has eight months from the Land Registry's notice to file the technical documents, and the deed must be issued within two years and eight months of the law, around March 2028. Otherwise the application can be rejected.
The numbers
According to the Interior Minister's figures cited by Cyprus Mail, more than half of the frozen applications concern properties without a title deed. A further 15,000 or so buyers affected by serious planning violations are outside the law altogether.
Key deadlines
| Step | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Court application against a creditor's refusal | 45 days from the refusal |
| Paying any outstanding balance into the special account | 60 days from the Land Registry's notice |
| Filing technical documents where no deed exists | 8 months from the Land Registry's notice |
| Title deed issued (cases without a deed) | Around March 2028 |
Practical obstacles
Even when a case qualifies, buyers often hit costs that are legally the developer's:
- the local authority's clearance certificate is withheld until the developer's charges are paid;
- architects and engineers owed fees by the developer will not sign off the permits;
- some works were never finished;
- in shared developments, neighbours who will not act can hold up everyone else.
Buyers have no legal duty to pay these, but in practice they often do, because there is no one else.
What this means for buyers
If your application was frozen in 2024, check that it has been reactivated and that your documents are ready before the Land Registry writes to you. A 45-day window is short once you need to instruct a lawyer and file a court application (Cyprus Mail).
If you are buying now, the law will not protect you. Ask for a recent Land Registry search certificate before you sign, check whether the property has its own separate title deed, and use an independent lawyer rather than one recommended by the developer.
This article is for information only and is not tax or legal advice.
