From Michael Thedoulou in Nicosia

British buyers are driving an unprecedented property boom in northern Cyprus, where prices are among the lowest in the Mediterranean. Most know that they are taking a calculated risk by investing in the internationally unrecognized Turkish Cypriot state ahead of the island’s possible reunification. Few realize that they could lose everything.

Many people are buying homes that have yet to be built, with some placing deposits before even visiting the island. But Britons seeking a slice of paradise at a good price in the area immortalized by Lawrence Durrell in Bitter Lemons are stepping into one of the most emotive and complex aspects of Cyprus. The majority of houses are sprouting on land that 163,000 Greek Cypriots were forced to abandon when Turkish troops invaded northern Cyprus in 1974 after a short-lived Greek-inspired coup in Nicosia. As far as Greek Cypriots are concerned, British buyers are dealing in stolen goods. “These people who buy land from non-owners run a big risk of losing their money,” Alecos Markides, the former attorney-general, said.

A UN Cyprus settlement plan sets out complicated rules to compensate former owners, or in some cases to restore their homes and land to them. “Britons are taking a big risk and it’s a real possibility that some of them will lose their properties if the provisions of the Annan plan as it is at the moment are enacted,” a senior foreign expert on the UN plan said. Reputable agents have told buyers to steer well clear of areas that could be rezoned as Greek Cypriot, where pre-1974 owners could reclaim property directly.

The biggest threat to British buyers may come if the current drive to reunify Cyprus fails. In that case, The Times can reveal, Greek Cypriots who fled northern Cyprus are preparing legal action against Britons using their properties. If successful, claims could be made against property owned by the Britons back home, Mr Markides said. “All these people who are rushing now to buy property at what they think are reasonable prices from non-owners will be in trouble sooner or later.”

Copyright - The Sunday Times

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