16.09.2022
Marinos Kineiro, President of the Board of Registration of Real Estate Agents, issued a statement this week addressing the problem of the soaring rental prices in Cyprus.
“The worrisome rent situation is exacerbated as inflationary pressures rise and household disposable income shrinks,” Kineiro said.
Marinos Kinaigeiru
President of the Board of Registration of Real Estate Agents Marinos Kineiro
“In an environment where everything is getting more expensive, we see that the whole issue becomes a subject of discussion not only among the student community and their families rushing to study in urban centers, but also more widely among the rest of society,” he added.
Kineirou said the increase in lending rates, combined with the new landscape in the real estate sector created by the introduction of a reduced 5 percent VAT rate on primary residences, is expected to encourage more people to rent property.
The Real Estate Agents Registration Board has recommended the introduction of certain instruments that will alleviate the fears of those who have let their property out to unscrupulous tenants who have either failed to pay rent or caused damage to the property.
“The current legal framework, in our opinion, needs to be reassessed and revised, as it does not effectively protect landlords and does not ensure the collection of rent due to them,” said the chairman of the council.
“In this light, we also recommend the creation of a troubled tenant register, a tool that is similar in concept to the Artemis system that the country’s financial institutions have at their disposal to view a borrower’s credit information,” he added.
In terms of tenants, Kineiro said the registry would be managed by the council itself, which would make it available to all of its members, meaning all professional and licensed real estate agents.
The register will include tenants convicted by the court for failing to comply with what was agreed in the context of the lease.
“This will allow legitimate real estate agents to know and manage any bad-reputed clients when renting properties, and creating a registry will also allow investors to regain confidence in the sector and invest again,” Kineiro said.
“Strengthening legislation and creating a registry, combined with an increase in the supply of real estate in the real estate market, will improve the situation and gradually contribute to the normalization of rental prices,” he concluded.
