You must think hard before selling North Cyprus property!

AIPP members could face expulsion from the trade body if they refuse to stop selling homes in Northern Cyprus.

The UK-based organisation already prevents entry to companies who market homes in the Turkish-controlled part of Cyprus.

But at its annual general meeting last week, the AIPP decided to extend the ban to its existing membership.

CEO Mark Sharp stressed that the decision would make the group’s policy consistent and was not designed as a political statement.

“We could count the number of members this affects on the fingers of one hand,” he told OPP.

Legal change
Members that sell property in Northern Cyprus will be given a timeframe in which to stop and will be subject to disciplinary sanctions – including possible expulsion – if they don’t.

The North’s property industry has been under scrutiny since British couple David and Linda Orams were sued by the original Greek Cypriot owner of the land their holiday home was built on.

The case came to a head earlier this year when a European Court ruling forced the couple to abandon the property and schedule a demolition. Thousands more foreign owners are thought to be at similar risk.

Sharp refused to comment on the fact that some agents claim to be able to source property with pre-1974 title deeds.

“We were waiting for legal clarification in the form of the Orams case and now we have to make a stand,” he said.

“What we have said is that if the situation does change we would look at it again.”

© www.opp.org.uk by Stephen Harris