First and foremost is the weather.  This is the prime reason given by most people moving here, especially form the UK. Living near the coast has all the benefits of a long season (from late March to early December) of sunny weather, varying from the mild levels around, or just below, 20°C  to the hot summer usually in the 30°C - 35°C range. This hotter levels are moderated by the pleasant sea breezes, and there is always the option of taking trips to the higher levels for cooler weather in the summer - especially the famous Troodos mountain range.  There is hardly any rain outside of the short winter period and, even in winter, daytime temperatures rarely fall below a moderate level of 12°C - 15°C.  This climate is ideal for good health and longevity, especially when combined with the local diet of mediterranean foods and some moderate exercise.

Another attraction of Cyprus is its extensive use of English as a second language, included in all road signs, and most other public signs and directions.  Those who come seeking to learn Greek often find it more difficult because there are so few of the locals who will not be conversiong with them in good English! Driving is also on the left as in Britain.

If you are seeking to retire to Cyprus on a pension earned from another country there are enormous tax benefits; and even for those working here income tax is far less than in most Western countries, with the first CyŁ10,000 p.a. exempt! Taxation is also lower for those who invest in property here whilst living abroad. For fuller details see our page on Tax Benefits in Cyprus.

For most locations in Cyprus you will find a wide choice of restaurants for eating out at modest prices, and wine is not subject to the high duties of the UK.  Petrol for driving around is also about 2/3 of the UK prices.

Last, but not least, are the beautiful views of the surrounding Mediterranean sea, the exciting contours of the coasts, and all the central mountains and hills - together with the enormous range of historic sites from Ottoman, Roman and more ancient civilisations, the monasteries and churches, the wide choice of museums and art galleries, and the enormous choice of live entertainment for all tastes.  For just a few examples of these attractions see our page About Cyprus.

Living in Cyprus offers all the benefits of being on a continuous holiday throughout the year.

D. Stavrinos Estates Ltd. has been in business over 25 years and we have a vast experience of building different types of projects. We have built a number of hotels, schools, military facilities, hospital extensions and waterparks, not just residential developments. D. Stavrinos Estates Ltd. uses its own workforce and we have our own subsidiary departments making aluminium (glazing) and timber products, which enable us to deliver complete projects without delays for our clients, as well as enabling us to pass on the resulting savings to our customers.

Our trained and friendly staff will guide and help you in all issues related to purchasing a high quality property in Cyprus. We will not pressure you; instead we offer our experience and expertise to assist you as required.

You can contact us in advance to make initial arrangements. If you will be staying in the Paphos or Limassol areas, we can arrange to meet you as soon as you like after your arrival (or at Paphos airport on arrival if you wish) and discuss your needs in order to set up inspections for you of suitable properties or sites. If you identify a property you are particularly interested in from the information we give you before you come we will be happy to take you straight there on your first day - otherwise we can take you around a number of sites, at your convenience, to assist you in finding what you need.

Once you have chosen a property we can assist you in finding any other services you may need – e.g. solicitor, mortgage, furnishers, fitters for air conditioning, property managers to deal with rentals or maintenance when you are not there.

For all of our properties you will have an impressive choice of tiling for floors and ceilings, and we will be happy to discuss any more specific variations you may prefer personally, and adjust the development to fit your needs. The earlier you buy the more options there will be for personalised changes.

Just ring one of our sales team on the mobile numbers near the bottom of the contacts page, and we will arrange an urgent appointment to meet your needs.

The usual default arrangements would be for a small deposit to be paid initially (e.g. €2000-€3,000) with the balance of 30% of the full price being paid on signing the contract, which would normally be within 30 days.

Subsequent payments would then be due on completion of 4 main stages of the works:

The skeleton
The brickwork and plastering
The internal flooring, carpentry and aluminium work
Final delivery and possession of the house

Typically this might be a further 20% for each of the first 3 stages, with
the final 10% on delivery.

However, there is a great deal of scope for agreement to vary these %ages or to reduce the number of stages to take account of the individual customer's financing needs, and we would be happy to discuss options for this with you.

All amounts need to be paid in local currency, which is now Euro's (though Cyprus Pounds can be accepted for payments during January '08, and can be exchanged without commission at any Cyprus Bank throughout 2008 - a fixed exchange rate has been set of €1 = CYŁ0.585274, so CYŁ1,000 = 1,708.60). 

All the amounts quoted for payment will be inclusive of VAT, but the contract will normally show each payment as two amounts, the basic charges and the VAT on this.  VAT is currently set at 15%.

After joining the European Union, Cyprus changed its currency from Cyprus Pounds to Euros on 1 January 2008.

During the changeover a fixed exchange rate applied of  1 EURO = CYŁ0.585274 so that CYŁ1,000 = EUR 1,708.60.

All contractual payments for our properties will be required in our local currency at the time of payment, which is now the Euro. 

For all new purchases, our prices which were previously quoted in Cyprus pounds have been exactly converted using the fixed exchange rate and then ROUNDED DOWN to the next €500 below.  (If you are currently paying for an ongoing development we will be happy to advise you of the figures in Euros for all outstanding payments.)

Most new properties now coming on to the market are subject to VAT, which is currently set at 15%.

ALL OF OUR PRICES ARE QUOTED INCLUSIVE OF VAT, so you have nothing extra to pay for this tax beyond the contract price agreed with us.

Until recently it was possible to claim a refund of up to 10% of this VAT if you were going to live in the home as your main residence.

That scheme is just being replaced with a new one of grants to assist purchase.  We are awaiting full details from the government, and will publish them here as soon as we have the information.