Hello all, our long awaited website has now been launched.

Please take a look and let us have your comments

Thanks in anticipation

www.fsbproperties.com

 

Well, it has been sometime since I have written to these pages, the property market have been very tough, but thank good things are inproving. There are many good bargains to be had for those looking for a holiday, retirement or even investment home now in Cyprus and we can help you with all matters relating to a successful and safe sale.

Keep watching as these pages will be updated with good hints and tips for buying and selling in Cyprus.

We are also now engaged in commercial / investment property such as hotels, resorts and the likes.

Thanks for listening and watch this space!

Panayiotis and the FSB Team.

 

EXCLUSIVE: NEW GOLF PROJECT FOR CYPRUSCyprus, golf A consortium of Cypriot developers called the Med Group is expecting to receive the green light for a €300million golf resort project within the next few months, after carrying out over 18 months worth of environmental studies before proceeding.
Due to be built in the town of Tersefanou, the Larnaca Golf and Country Club (working title), will comprise of an 18-hole golf course, over 500 residences, breaking down to 285 two to four bedroom villas, 211 one, two and three bedroom apartments and 40 ‘hotel-style’ rooms in the complex.
Alongside this will be a clubhouse, a village square and purpose built function rooms and spa facilities. Health treatment will also be available on site with minor cosmetic surgery being performed in the resort’s medical centre.The Med Group has also signed an exclusive contract with the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) which will manage the golfing facilities and develop a PGA academy on site. The agreement with the PGA is exclusive to the Med Group and is the only one allowed on Cyprus.
By signing the agreement, the golf course will be able to host Ryder Cup games in the future and is expected to be a major selling point for the resort. The Med Group has also retained the services of Morpheus Investments as the master sales agent for the project.
The firm’s director, Derek Hatton, said that his company is looking to internationalise its sales process and will seek a limited number of “quality sub-agent partners” for the project in Europe, Dubai and South Africa.
Environmental concerns Currently Cyprus has three golf courses, but only one other golfing resort, Aphrodite Hills in Paphos. George Hassapis, CEO of Hassapis Land Developers and a major shareholder in the Med Group, said that the environmental studies carried out on the project would help it stand out from others in Cyprus and Europe.“Water is a massive concern for us here in Cyprus so we took proactive steps to make sure that the entire resort would fit in with the area and be sustainable, before being asked to do this by the Environmental Agency (EA),” he explained. “The construction of a desalination plant was part of the requirement to build the resort and we will also have the capacity to sell water to the government to supply the local community should it be needed.
We also had to tell the EA what we would do with the excess salt from the project and spent a lot of money to make sure that the water pipeline didn’t affect the local wildlife. This is very important for our sales partners as environmental concerns in Cyprus and around the world are growing. B spending so much time and money on this, we believe it will aid the sales process. Now we have EA approval, we are waiting on the government to decide the appropriate level of taxes to be levied on the project, then we can proceed.”According to Cypriot law, completion on the project must be within 24 months of receiving permission to build. The Med Group will deliver the first residential phase within two years and release a further two phases on a yearly basis after this.

© http://www.opp.org.uk

Green light given for go ahead

Tourist committee marketing director Lakis Avraamides has confirmed that local councils and hoteliers have signed an agreement with the government for land to be set-aside for the construction of a golf course in the Ayia Napa- Protaras area. It’s hoped the new course will boost ‘quality tourism’ in the region. The course is expected to be ready within the next three years and will be the first green in this part of Cyprus. Golf tourism is becoming increasing popular in the EU, with Scotland alone seeing a £200 million increase in golf-revenue over the last few years. Worldwide, 33 per cent of golf tour operators said they expected ‘spectacular’ growth in the golf travel market over the next 15 years, while 56 per cent believed there would be ‘steady’ growth. Gazette Online 14/12/07

 

Pensioners who are fed up with Britain’s high taxes and miserable weather can escape both without leaving the European Union by moving to an English-speaking country with a flat rate of income tax at 5 per cent or annual allowances of more than £14,600 tax-free. Better still, savers who have retired can receive interest from bank deposits and sharholdings entirely free of income tax – and inheritance tax has been abolished on this Mediterranean island.

 

Cyprus, which joined the EU in 2004, is setting itself up as something of tax haven for people of with a wide range of incomes – not just millionaires. Better still, the favourable treatment of pensioners is not age-related. It applies to anyone in receipt of pension income – and so it includes those who have taken early retirement.

Jonathan Spring-Rice, wealth manager at independent financial adviser Towry Law International, says: “This Mediterranean island’s tax regime is one of the biggest reasons pensioners quit these shores to retire there. But it also has the added advantages of a low cost of living and low crime rate.”

A double taxation treaty with Britain allows retirees to pay tax in Cyprus at a fixed rate of 5 per cent on their pensions, whether state, company or personal. This low rate was introduced to encourage foreigners into the country to stimulate its economy.

Justin Rix, international tax director at Grant Thornton, says: “An expatriate pensioner can elect to pay tax at 5 per cent on any pension income above a threshold of €3,417 (£2,588). But if they wish, they can choose to be taxed under the normal tiered rules, in which case the first €19,500 is untaxed – a generous sum – rising to a rate of 30 per cent on pension income above €36,301.

“So, if an expat pensioner has a low income of, for example, €8,000, they would not make the election to pay 5 per cent, as they could pay no tax at all under the normal system.”

Spring-Rice adds: “You win on both sides; either benefiting from an incredibly low tax rate or a huge personal allowance. And you simply have to be in receipt of a pension, so you can benefit from this tax regime even if you take early retirement at say, 55, and move there.”

This means it makes sense to get your UK pension paid gross and then pay income tax on it in Cyprus. This will ensure your money goes further, and petrol and utility costs, among other necessities, are also fraction of the price of Britain’s.

Cyprus offers other advantages to Britons retiring outside the UK. It is a country where the UK government pays annual inflation increases to expatriates’ state pensions, unlike countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. As a general rule, British state pensions which are paid to people who emigrate outside the EU remain frozen at the rate in force when they leave Britain. Another advantage of its tax regime for retirees is that bank interest and share dividends are tax-free once you become tax resident – after you have lived in the country for 183 days.

Rix adds: “Capital gains tax is also only liable on profits from the sale of property, so this is more favourable than the UK, where it is levied on the sale of most assets.”

Yet another enticing aspect of its tax regime is that Cyprus has no inheritance tax – it was abolished in 2000. To benefit from this, expatriates will have to prove they have completely severed all links with the UK to HM Revenue & Customs. This is not a simple process. It can take more than five years and involves closing down all accounts and selling all UK property, and cancelling your registration with your UK doctor and dentist, among other things.

The reason is that HMRC assesses inheritance tax liabilities on a UK citizen’s worldwide assets and so you have to demonstrate that you are no longer domiciled in Britain. Unlike residence for tax purposes, which is based on the facts of where you live, domicile is based on subjective tests of which country you regard as home. So, for example, you could remain domiciled in Britain and liable to inheritance tax many years after becoming resident overseas.

Says Rix: “To be regarded as domiciled in Cyprus, you need to demonstrate that you consider Cyprus to be your permanent home, by, for example, having a burial plot there.

“Just moving there and becoming resident is not sufficient, and if you have a property in the UK this will always be liable for inheritance tax there, even if you are not deemed domiciled.”

As with any move out of the UK, emigrating to Cyprus means you will be tied to the local currency and subject to exchange rate fluctuations. Since the start of this month he local currency has been the euro, a change which experts say is increasing the island’s popularity.

Mark Bodega of currency exchange specialist HiFX says: “While the Cypriot pound was effectively fixed against the euro for the last two years or more, this recent announcement confirms the island’s economic maturity and the promise of a share in the spoils of the recently improved EU-wide growth story.”

When moving money out to Cyprus, it makes sense to use a specialist foreign exchange company which will give you better rates than the high street banks and offer a regular payments abroad service, enabling customers to fix rates for up to two years ahead.

Useful contacts
Pension Service International Pension Centre, Tyneview Park, Whitley Road, Benton, Newcastle upon Tyne NE98 1BA 0191 218 7777 or pensionservice.gov.uk The Pensions Advisory Service: 08456 012923 or www.opas.org.uk HIFX: 01753 859159 or www.hifx.co.uk

HOW EASY IS IT TO LIVE IN CYPRUS?

Cypriots speak Greek and Turkish; English is widely spoken Cypriots drive on the left

UK state pensions paid in Cyprus are index-linked

Pensioners are eligible for Winter Fuel payments

Cyprus usually has more than 300 days of sunshine each year

You can fly direct from Britain to Cyprus in 4.5 hours.

The population is 780,000 – equal to that of Norfolk

Cyprus time is two hours ahead of GMT

Summer temperatures can hit 40°C

As reported by Telegraph.co.uk