How to rent out property in Cyprus: practical guidelines

Until recently, it was possible to rent out housing in Cyprus for short-term rent without formalities. Now this has become almost impossible, since the country has a law obliging to register such objects as special housing. It should be noted that not all houses and apartments can fall into this category. Some of the main criterias are:

• the object must be rented out in full (it is impossible to rent out one or several rooms separately);
• the house should not have more than 5 rooms;
• housing should be rented out to no more than 10 guests.

If the object meets these characteristics, the owner must register it. After receiving the corresponding number, you will have to add it to a special registry and fulfill a number of conditions.

How is the registration procedure being carried out?

For registration purposes you must contact the Ministry of Tourism of the country. Owner needs to submit an application with the specified data:

• TIN of the owner of the object (if the house or apartment does not belong to an individual, then the VAT code is indicated);
• description of housing;
• insurance contract (fire insurance must be present).

It is also necessary to provide a permit for the construction of the facility (the first page is typically enough) and indicate the electricity bill number. Additionally, a document of the person or company that owns the home is submitted - a passport or registration certificate.

If the mentioned information is successfully verified, a permit is issued to lease the object for a short-term lease. The document will be valid for 3 years. It can be extended 3 months before the end of this period.

After registration is completed, the accommodation itself must also be prepared for moving in. It is important to place a fire extinguisher and a first aid kit inside the house. An information poster should be prepared which will include the emergency telephone number and contact details of the owner. It is also important to indicate the full address of the object itself so that guests do not have to look for it in case of any unforeseen situations.

A short-term rental owner must pay tax. To do this, you need to get a certificate from the tax office confirming registration, and after that all rental income will be taxed.

To simplify the procedure for registering housing for rent, a special electronic platform is provided. It was planned to open it in the beginning of 2021, but for some reasons it was delayed. The platform should be completed by the end of this year.