Buyers, sellers, developers and the people who build
In short
- Both sides of a property transaction, and every side of a building contract.
- A deposit due before anyone has checked it, a title that will not transfer, or a building that is not what was described.
- Property and construction usually arrive as one problem, so this page covers both.
We act on both sides of a property transaction and on every side of a building contract: buyers, sellers, landlords, developers, main contractors, subcontractors and consultants. Most of what reaches us is one of three situations. A deposit is due and nobody has checked what it commits you to. A title will not transfer. Or the building is not what the contract described.
If a contract is in front of you, it can be read and reported on in writing before you sign: what binds you, what is missing, and what to ask to change. Contract review before you sign.
Property and construction usually arrive as one problem. The unauthorised works that block a title deed were built under a contract. The delay that costs a developer a season starts with a planning consent. So the two sit together, and this page covers both.
Go straight to Property Construction
The overlap
Three situations that are neither one thing nor the other
Where a file is purely a purchase or purely a build, it belongs on the pages linked above. These are the ones that are not.
The building that is not finished
A buyer who commits to a unit that does not yet exist is exposed to two different things at once. There is the transaction: what is being acquired, what secures the money paid before there is anything to secure it against, and what happens if the counterparty fails. And there is the construction: whether what is eventually handed over matches what was described, and whether it arrives when it was promised. The two are governed by different parts of the same contract, and buyers routinely negotiate the price and the payment stages with care while accepting the specification, the completion date and the remedies as printed. It is the wrong way round. On an incomplete building the specification is the only description of the thing being bought.
The counterparty who is both seller and builder
Where the person selling is also the person who built, a complaint about the building and a complaint about the sale land on the same doorstep, and it is tempting to treat them as one grievance. They are not. They may arise under different documents, they are proved by different material, and the remedies available are not the same. Separating them at the outset is what makes either of them workable, because a strong point about the sale is weakened by being bundled with a weak point about workmanship, and the reverse is equally true.
This also affects who has to be brought in. The party that sold may not be the party that carried out the work complained of, and the subcontractor or consultant who did is frequently answerable to somebody other than the buyer. Establishing the chain of contracts is the first hour of work on a file of this kind.
The building work that becomes a title problem
The most common file that genuinely sits in both areas begins as a construction question and surfaces years later as a property one. Work is carried out that departs from what was approved. Nobody objects at the time. The building is occupied, sold, and occupied again. Then somebody applies to transfer the title, or to mortgage the property, or to sell it, and the departure appears as an obstacle attached to the property rather than to the person who created it.
Handled as a property matter alone, the question is what the register shows and what has to be cleared. Handled as a construction matter alone, the question is who is answerable for having built it. Answering only one of those leaves the client with either an unsellable property or an unenforced claim, and the reason to take both together is that the evidence and the limitation position for the second are running while the first is being negotiated.
Ordinary purchases, sales, leases and title work are set out on the property page. Building contracts, permits, project set-up and the claims that follow them are on the construction page, with the disputes themselves under construction disputes.
What to send us
Start with this: the names of everyone involved, so we can run a conflict check, a short description of what happened and when, and any deadline you already know about.
Once we confirm we can act: on a transaction: the draft contract, any title reference or search you hold, the plans and permits, and any reservation agreement already signed, with a note of any deposit paid. On a building matter: the contract and specification, the approved plans and permits, a short chronology, and any photographs or expert report you hold. Say at the outset if a deadline is running.
Two dates that decide more than the merits
Contract claims in Cyprus are generally subject to a six-year limitation period under section 7(1) of the Limitation of Actions Law 66(I)/2012, running from when the cause of action accrued. That covers most defect, delay and payment claims arising out of a building contract or a contract of sale. It sounds generous and is not, because these claims are won on evidence that gets harder to gather the longer a building has been lived in, and because the accrual date can differ between the building contract and a subcontract, so the same delay may be in time against one party and out of time against another.
The second date is the deadline for depositing a contract of sale at the Land Registry under the Sale of Immovable Property (Specific Performance) Law 81(I)/2011, which is what preserves the buyer's priority and the right to compel the transfer. Miss it and the protection is not there when it is needed. Since the amendment made by Law 132(I)/2023 the contract itself has to carry a search certificate dated no more than five working days before signature, and that duty falls on the seller rather than the buyer.
Both are set out in our own guides: Building Defects in Cyprus, Delay Claims in Cyprus Construction Contracts and Specific Performance in Cyprus.
If the seller also built what you bought, tell us which contract governs the complaint, the sale contract or the building contract, and the stage the works reached, at office@kleanthousplatis.com, or the enquiry form. We reply within one business day.
How a matter runs
From first contact to implementation
Every matter is different, but the route is broadly the same. Knowing it in advance makes the cost and the timetable easier to judge.
First contact and conflict check
Review of the contract, the title and permits, and the site and project documents
Engagement and fee agreement before any work begins
Assessment of the position, including title, permits, notices and any limitation period running
Negotiation with the seller, developer or contractor, or proceedings where that is the right route
Documentation: contract, any deposit at the Land Registry, settlement or pleadings
Implementation and monitoring of the agreed terms
Who leads this work
Between them the partners bring more than 40 years of practice in Cyprus. Every matter is run by one of them.
Andreas Kleanthous
Partner
Litigation, personal injury and insurance claims, debt recovery, administrative law, real estate, wills and probate.
Klitos Platis
Partner
Litigation, corporate and commercial matters, property and construction, including pleadings, interim applications and trial preparation.
Written on this subject
Buying Off-Plan Property in Cyprus: Protections When Purchasing From a Developer
Property and constructionUnauthorised Works and Notes on Cyprus Titles
Property and constructionBuilding Defects in Cyprus: Legal Remedies
ConstructionSpecific Performance in Cyprus: How a Deposited Contract of Sale Protects the Buyer
PropertyThe full property and construction writing is on the writing index. Related practice areas: Litigation & Arbitration and Public & Administrative. Buying from abroad? Start with the route.
Questions we are asked
Do you act for buyers or for developers?
Both sides of a property transaction and every side of a building contract: buyers, sellers, landlords, developers, main contractors, subcontractors and consultants, in separate and unrelated matters. A conflict check is run before instructions are accepted, and where interests conflict the firm acts for one side only.
Why are property and construction dealt with together?
Because they usually arrive as one problem. The unauthorised works that block a title deed were built under a contract, and the delay that costs a developer a season starts with a planning consent.
What are the three situations that reach the firm most often?
A deposit is due and nobody has checked what it commits the buyer to; a title will not transfer; or the building is not what the contract described.
We are buying a unit that has not been built. What is the exposure?
Two different things at once, governed by different parts of the same contract. The transaction: what is being acquired, what secures the money paid before there is anything to secure it against, and what happens if the counterparty fails. And the construction: whether what is handed over matches what was described, and whether it arrives when it was promised. Buyers routinely negotiate the price and the payment stages with care while accepting the specification, the completion date and the remedies as printed, which is the wrong way round.