Due to the increasing tourist attractiveness of Cyprus, housing demand is growing rapidly. Many tourists prefer to stay in an apartment, rather than in a hotel room while relaxing because it is more comfortable for them. In this connection, the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus intend to withdraw the property rental market from the shadows.

Following the new bill, owners of real estate in Cyprus intended for the rental must necessarily register the apartment, house, villa or another type of property in the national registry. The short-term rental procedure, for example, through the Airbnb website will become more transparent and will protect tourists from illegal transactions.

Features of the innovation

According to preliminary estimates, more than 20 thousand real estate properties are currently being rented through various online platforms in Cyprus. Following the innovations, they will have to be registered in the state register in the prescribed manner.

The author of the bill was Averoff Neofitu and Ilias Mirianfus. About 18 months have passed from the moment this document was drawn up to the moment of final approval by the parliament. 52 parliamentarians cast their ballots for the bill and only 2 were opposed.

The law spells out the procedure by which real estate objects put up by the owners on an online site for a subsequent rental will be registered in the national database. The document also says what operating rules should be followed by those people who arrange to the house for short-term rent.

Within the Ministry of Tourism of Cyprus, a unit has been created that will deal with the rental of apartments, houses, and villas. Previously, the management of this unit was able to agree with online platforms to amend the registration procedure of real estate owners.

Now, to become authorized users of the Internet service, they will need to provide their serial number, which they received after entering the property in the national registry. Without this data, registration will not be available. Besides, online sites plan to provide the Cypriot government with transaction information so that it becomes clear how to levy taxes on these proceeds.

The issue of taxation is currently not resolved. The bill says that real estate, which will be first exposed to an online resource, should be immediately entered into the state register. Those users who have long been registered on short-term rental Internet services need to go through state registration within two years.