Refugee committee warns of distorted rents on Turkish Cypriot properties

The House refugee committee has identified distortions in rents charged on Turkish Cypriot properties, its chairman Nikos Kettiros said on Monday, after reviewing the next annual budget of the Turkish Cypriot Property Management Service. Kettiros said rents were rising in areas where foreign buyers had purchased neighbouring properties, as the service sets rents on Turkish Cypriot land by reference to the market. He cited cases near the Limassol Marina, Paphos Castle and now the centre of Larnaca. He said rents on Turkish Cypriot properties are set at between 25 and 60 per cent of market rent. He gave the example of a shop paying €200 a month next to a premises bought by a third-country national and let for €1,000. The service, he said, would then set the refugee tenant’s rent on the €1,000 figure. “This is distorted,” he said, adding that people were being forced to close shops they could not afford to keep open. The service will provide written answers by next Tuesday, when the committee meets again to decide its position before the budget goes to the plenum. Kettiros commended the overall budget but sought clarification on several points, including a cut in the repairs budget, which he put at €2 million a year, delays in repairs, and the return of properties to approved beneficiaries. He also asked the director for a timetable for regulations on holiday homes and agricultural plots. Disy MP Giorgos Lysandridis said the service’s budget is €16 million, with €6 million from the state and about €8.7 million expected from rents, mainly on business premises and farmland let to Greek Cypriot applicants. A further €750,000 is set aside to repair Turkish Cypriot houses destroyed in the fires near Malia this summer and the projected deficit falls from €2.2 million in 2026 to €800,000. Lysandridis said new regulations are expected in early 2027 and that staff departures were delaying applications. Diko MP Adamos Aspris called the rent rises “unacceptable and unfair”, saying a struggling farmer could see rent soar due to development nearby. He said refugees often spend tens of thousands of euros repairing houses that the state then takes back and reallocates, and that holders of small agricultural plots pay high social insurance contributions. In February, the committee heard of commercial rents in Limassol rising from €150 to €2,800 a month, and asked the service to freeze reviews until new criteria were presented. The Turkish Cypriot Property Management Service has managed properties valued at more than €7.5 billion while collecting about €5 million a year in rent.