Blu-sky thinking in Cyprus
They call it ‘Europe’s new riviera’ and Limassol’s latest holiday apartments herald another side to an island long loved by the British, says NICK DALTON
CYPRUS has long been a retreat for the British and the signs are it will stay that way, whatever happens with Brexit. Buy a property worth €300,000 and you and your family can live there and start a business. Spend €1 million and you can have citizenship.
Still a base for British military, it has no property tax, no inheritance tax and no stamp duty but it does have year-round sun, road signs in English and everyone drives on the left.
Yes, there are some resorts full of English breakfasts and lager-filled pubs but the place is reinventing itself, celebrating its position as an island at the far end of the Mediterranean where it’s so warm even the banana fields thrive in winter.
There are holiday and retirement properties all along the south coast with Limassol a rising star.the beach town aims to be a new Barcelona. It is transforming a scruffy, industrial stretch of waterfront with striking accommodation, bars and restaurants.
The seafront heart is the Old Port, where modern-build places to eat and drink fill an ancient pier, and there’s a new marina where superyachts sparkle.
Just on the far side of the Old Port, work has started on the Blu Marine twin tower apartments, with a promise that every room will face the sea.there will be deep balconies, air-conditioning, underfloor heating, a 24-hour concierge, gym, spa and a 50m infinity pool in seafront gardens.
One-bedroom apartments are on sale freehold from €615,000, about £530,000 (020 8883 2333; leptosestates.com) with five per cent VAT, roughly €2,000 land registry and around €650 a month in local fees and service charges on top.
The towers – Poseidon and Zeus – are part of Limassol’s grand designs for “Europe’s new riviera”.a £20million tree-lined park already runs for a mile on the seafront at the other side of the Old
Port.and another is set to front this new neighbourhood,aktaia Odos, running a mile and a half to a futuristic cruise terminal.
Protected relics such as abandoned wineries and factories, suitably refurbished and repurposed, will be central to a masterplan due next year.
Blu Marine is the latest project from family firm Leptos Estates. Deputy president Pantelis Leptos, who studied in London and has close UK links, says: “Cyprus is European, it has none of the geographical anxieties of other countries in the region such as Turkey, Israel and Lebanon.”
Brexit’s effects are unknown but Mr Leptos feels that a long association with the UK (25 per cent of Limassol’s 250,000 residents are British ex-pats) and our continued military presence will ensure a special relationship.
Leptos Estates can arrange holiday lets – it’s said 36 weeks would be filled with ease – and manage other rentals.airbnb saw a 71 per cent growth in 2018 and Leptos would organise everything. Long-term lets are also possible. Management fees could be 10 per cent of income, which is predicted at 3-6 per cent on investment, with Airbnb fetching €300 a day on a two-bedroom flat. Mortgages at 3-4 per cent are available from Cyprus banks after a 30 per cent deposit.
Leptos Estates, meanwhile, has many options. In Paphos is Aphrodite Gardens, low-rise blocks around two pools where a two-bedroom place is €200,000 (annual service charges €750). In the hills some 800 British families live in Kamares Village, “the Beverly Hills of Cyprus”, where 1,200 contemporary villas, some fetching several million, have panoramic views.
Before the 2008 crash Brits accounted for 90 per cent of overseas sales.that’s now at 10 per cent, up from a three per cent low. Plentiful flights, however, make Cyprus increasingly attractive for a Brit getaway.