HBPG Endeavors To Help Home Buyers

The dream of owning a villa in the sun is what most people in the Northern Hemisphere aspire to.  What happens when you think that your dream is coming true only to discover that the reality is, in fact, a nightmare.  This is what the Homebuyers Pressure Group is discovering from people who have purchased properties here in the TRNC during the past few years.

Since September 2005 the Homebuyers Pressure Group has been compiling a database of complaints from property investors and all members are currently in the process of completing a detailed chronological history of their property purchase process.  These case histories are giving a clear indication as to the stage in the purchase process that the dream is being shattered and who is responsible for this.

The main reasons for these nightmares are; discovering, after they take possession, that there is no Building Permission and, in a lot of cases, that the land has been mortgaged. Their Permission to Buy not being processed promptly or efficiently by the Interior Ministry.  Properties not being completed to specification or in line with the Sales Contract.  Builders and Estate Agents not advising that basics such as water, electricity and access road are not included in the agreed property price, this omission costing the purchaser thousands of unbudgeted extra pounds.  Properties not being ready as per contract completion date thereby forcing many purchasers to rent at exorbitant rates while their builder blames the government and everyone else for the late completion. Having paid the full asking price (and sometimes more) but with no Building Permit, no Permission to Buy and no Title in their name many people are being threatened with eviction, demands for rent and violence if they do not respond to requests for more money.

All of this must stop if the construction industry in the TRNC wants to continue.  If the government does not put a stop to the wrongdoers then everyone, good and bad, will suffer.  The foreign investors, now believed to be in the region of 10,000, spend on average £50,000 for their property.  Living here, with no mortgage or rent to pay, costs approximately £1,000+ per month.  This all adds up to a lot of sterling pounds being brought into this economy with absolutely no return or even a stress-free life for the investors.  Who is to blame?  The government?  The builders?  Who?

The Homebuyers Pressure Group must continue in it’s endeavors to get these problems resolved and all the cases on it’s database closed so that all it’s members can start to dream again.