Permission to Purchase - How does it work in reality?

Moover321


Joined: 11/04/2009
Posts: 649

Message Posted:
17/05/2009 11:24

What happens between finding a place you want to buy, applying for PTP? Can someone elucidate the actual process?



Say for example i found a villa I want to buy - do I pay a deposit and sign a contract to purchase subject to obtaining a PTP? If the PTP is refused then the deposit is refunded? Or is it a bit more complicated than that?

cronos


Joined: 26/10/2008
Posts: 2093

Message Posted:
17/05/2009 11:29

Good luck with that Moover !!!!



What a wonderful world it would be if ANYONE in the TRNC would allow you to buy a property,and just pay a small deposit SUBJECT TO GAINING PTP.



If it was the case,then maybe developers,estate agents and advocates would lobby the Government to process applications within 28 days......rather than 28 months which is more the norm.

cronos


Joined: 26/10/2008
Posts: 2093

Message Posted:
17/05/2009 13:09

Sonic.....although you managed to do it many moons ago (was it 7 years?) it is unfair to profer this as a viable solution because as well you know NO-ONE will allow you to buy a property this way in the TRNC !



Yours was pretty much an individual,one-off transaction which us mere mortals can only dream of !

Bradus


Joined: 25/02/2007
Posts: 2641

Message Posted:
17/05/2009 13:25

Problem is you will not get your PTP for at least 18 months or longer. By this time you will have paid and probably taken possession of your property. If the PTP is then refused, and more and more are being, (see Newspaper article on HBPG site) you have no safety net. The TRNC government takes the stance you should not have proceeded without your PTP so you are responsible for your outcome.



But more importantly who will you sell the property on to? No Brit will touch it because they will be aware PTP is refused. TC's possibly but for a much lower price as their earnings are substantially less than most Europeans.



A journalist recently said "only people who have had a lobotomy would now consider buying in the TRNC". What with the Oram's case and future land disputes, PTP refusals and delays, freehold properties suddenly becoming leasehold, developments going bust and a whole host of other things being experienced by purchasers, he has a very valid point.

waddo


Joined: 29/11/2008
Posts: 1966

Message Posted:
17/05/2009 17:17

You don't need PTP if you lease and you can lease for 99 years as well as sell it on when you want to. Why buy it in the first place if you only want to live here and maybe leave it to the kids?



In your later years, surely you want to make things as easy as possible for yourself instead of having to worry over PTP and Kocan and all the other junk that goes with it.

kamaks


Joined: 03/03/2009
Posts: 123

Message Posted:
17/05/2009 18:29

Does a mainland Turk / british citizen need a ptp to buy propety or land in the trnc?

cronos


Joined: 26/10/2008
Posts: 2093

Message Posted:
17/05/2009 21:51

Waddo....going down the leasehold route is all well and good if that is what you bought in the first place.



However....to have paid in full for a freehold property....to have waited many years for PTP....and then to be told you can only have your house if you accept leasehold is simply not on !



Unless of course the benevolent TRNC govt will offer you say a third of your money back for loss of freehold ?

waddo


Joined: 29/11/2008
Posts: 1966

Message Posted:
17/05/2009 22:32

Cronos, quite agree with you and did not know that this situation had happened, sorry for anyone who is in that situation as well. Comment on leasehold was for general information and not aimed at anyone in particular, it was our choice to go the leasehold route right from the start and we saw it as a kind of 50 years rent up front without any worry. Nobody to leave the place to anyway and damned if the UK Tax man was ever going to get his hands on even more of our pitance after we snuffed it!



Having said all that, the cost of leasehold on the land was 50% less than the cost of purchase of the land - the house costs remained the same - so if the government is now offering leasehold then it should be at a lower price than you have already paid - or maybe it don't work that way. If they did offer money back then I would be very tempted to take it if only for the security aspect.

cronos


Joined: 26/10/2008
Posts: 2093

Message Posted:
17/05/2009 22:35

Thanks for the clarification waddo.

Yes....if I was offered a substantial portion of the purchase price back for loss of freehold,then I too would consider going down the long leasehold route to save the ongoing hassle and uncertainty.

Moover321


Joined: 11/04/2009
Posts: 649

Message Posted:
18/05/2009 11:37

Thanks for all your input!



There appears to be a certain type of insanity built in to the TRNC system. If this is deliberate then we need to ask the question why? If it is inadvertent then we need to ask why the TRNC has done little if anything to resolve the same?



At this point I do not know the answer(s).



I believe by asking the right questions - it is possible to fathom where the underlying constraints lie and why the TRNC appears on the face of it to be such a challenge to ex-pats!



I believe there is an opportunity here for those who have already invested and for those considering the same to work together and promote / protect the interest of those who are non-Turkish Cypriots. Chasing a different legal title will make difference when it comes to the issues of GC ownership.



The right appraoch is one which deals with the ambiguities and uncertainties head-on with those in government. If there is no success in that approach then the decision to buy is simple - don't!

ilovekibris


Joined: 18/05/2009
Posts: 394

Message Posted:
18/05/2009 23:03

moover wrote:

There appears to be a certain type of insanity built in to the TRNC system. If this is deliberate then we need to ask the question why? If it is inadvertent then we need to ask why the TRNC has done little if anything to resolve the same?



The insanity also lies with people who let greed get the better of them and handed over cash for properties without PTP. They should have made a contract and put down a deposit, refundable in the case of refusal. If this had been followed then the system would fall into line because no PTP equals no deal, end of.



Why does the TRNC drag its feet with PTP you ask? Because these foolish people have handed over all the money, palms are being greased, the backhanders are rolling in and theres cash in the system. The TRNC doeasnt need to hurry now because the delays suit an inefficient and chaotic administration. I love this place hence my nickname but not the people in charge.

cronos


Joined: 26/10/2008
Posts: 2093

Message Posted:
18/05/2009 23:11

So now it's all our own fault is it Kibris?

By following the advice of our TRNC advocates and estate agents who assured us that PTP was just a formality we have sealed our own fate?

How can such a system exist whereby the TRNC authorities allow us to purchase properties,knowing full well that they have not granted us PTP yet?

Where does the fault really lie?

ilovekibris


Joined: 18/05/2009
Posts: 394

Message Posted:
18/05/2009 23:30

cronos,



Didn't you still feel alarmed and unconvinced when all these "professsionals" told you it would be ok to hand over your money with no permission to buy? It never used to be this way. The system only changed by default because foreigners mistook charm and warmth and friendship for the dollar signs in the eyes of a chain of closely connected people with absolutely no scruples or morals. They lost those post 2003 when they heard the Brits were coming.

Ask yourself this - what kind of administration would allow this to happen?

cronos


Joined: 26/10/2008
Posts: 2093

Message Posted:
18/05/2009 23:34

Kibris.....thanks for expanding on your reply.



I think I know exactly what kind of administration would allow this to happen !



PS....if you can find me a property for sale in NC where the vendor would allow me to await PTP then please forward details !

ilovekibris


Joined: 18/05/2009
Posts: 394

Message Posted:
18/05/2009 23:40

cronos,



I'm pretty sure someone out there would do a proper "deposit down pending PTP" deal, such is the state of the market and it will be like this for the forseeable future. If you advertised in the right places (pre-74) I think you would get some offers, and good ones to. Its a buyers market cos there are hardly any buyers now.