Renting In Southern Cyprus

Renting isn’t common for Cypriots, the majority of whom own their homes. The rental market is therefore mainly geared towards students and singles who move to live near their job.

Long-term rentals are easy to find, but the market can be competitive near universities, medical centers, and city centers.

Furnished apartments are easier to find than unfurnished, because of the high proportion of student renters. Houses and villas are typically unfurnished (it would be difficult to find one furnished).

Unfurnished typically means that there are kitchen cabinets, lighting fixtures, flooring, and doors, but no kitchen appliances (maybe the exhaust fan is left in if it was attached to the cabinetry, but that would be it).

When describing a property in a listing, number of bathrooms is not typically given, so you should ask specifically.

The typical deposit depends on the size of the unit and the value of the furniture or property. For apartments, you’ll typically be asked for one to two months’ rent as deposit; for villas, you might be asked for two or three months’.

Non-EU citizens must apply for a residency permit before they’ll be able to rent long-term on the island. Any short-term rental (for 90 days or less) can be taken as a tourist, but anything over 90 days will require a long-stay permit.

Short-term rentals can be best found on Airbnb or HomeAway, and long-term rentals can be best found on local estate agencies’ websites.

Tenants pay electricity, gas, water, internet, and any maintenance of the common areas when needed, unless otherwise negotiated in the contract.

As with all contracts, the rental contract must be registered with the government and stamped to get an approval of validity (not needed for short-term rentals).

There is no particular inspection requirement for renting property and no requirement to disclose anything to the tenant, so take time to do a thorough walk through yourself and note any issues or damage with the landlord before signing the lease. When looking for properties here, you’re probably going to want air conditioning, so check that a system is installed and functional before signing the lease.