5 year plan to move to Cyprus

@psmurphy

To be honest 5 years is way to far ahead to suggest what the cost of living ls likely to be not to mention what the immigration rules are likely to be.

CoL and immigration has changed so much and so many times in the last few years... It would be impossible to predict..

If it were now id say the budget would be fine but rental accommodation now is likely to take almost 30 - 50% of that  depending on property type and location and there is no great signs that accom cost are going to do down..iF buying then maybe that's not in the budget figures....

thanks Toon

Sorry should have said, we are buying and not renting

I appreciate we're jumping the gun a bit here as we won't be putting things into motion for 5 years or so its just me as I just like to think\start to plan things out

is there a check list of what needs to be done and costs of purchasing a property (tax etc) not necessarily on this forum but elswhere?

Much of what you ask varies with the size of property whether its a newbuild or resale and whether it has a pool, size of plot etc even in the areas you've identified there can be a significant difference.. house purchase is usually

Lawyer

Surveyor/Architect

Title transfer

Stamp duty

All above vary depending on value at POS.

Vat ..none on resale except maybe a

developer refurb which am not sure of but 5 % on new build assuming you are to be living in it but had it been for rental.then full 19%.

Back to budget again it will vary depending on your lifestyle and what you expect to do and how often and of course where ..lol

@psmurphy I am assuming that you are both holders of an UK passport.  Just a couple of points. At today’s GBP to Euro exchange rate that income would be too low to satisfy immigration. At the moment immigration requires an annual income of €28,800 for a couple which is around £24400 pa for a couple. 

At your first registration with immigration you will need to show around €30,000 in a Cypriot Bank account. As you are under UK state pension age you will need medical insurance, a very basic medical insurance cover and I mean very basic cover will cost around €500 a year. A more extensive level of cover would cost significantly more.

As Toon say immigration rules for Non-Eu passport holders are being reviewed on a regular basis as are the income requirements nobody knows what they will be in 5 years time.

saying all of the above if you or your partner are an EU passport holder it is a great deal easier.

Thanks Toon

Lifestyle will be chilled and easy, eat out one\twice a week

We found we were spending around £50 \ euros when on holiday recently per meal and the supermarket prices we're cheaper than I was expecting and that was one across the road from a number of hotels so would expect them to hike the price a bit

Budget for a property will around £100k - 2 bedroom apartment \ flat with a communial pool or a small house if we can push to that near the coast but in a built up area so local shops\restraunts\bars

I concur with George on the financial requirements of immigration..its also very much likely to be raised as it's in discussion stages now along with lots of other things .... ....So in terms of buying £100k now would be abt €118k and to be honest that's not going to be enough to get a good quality 2bd townhouse or apartment.. those that you may have seen advertised at that level are generally problematic in terms of deeds, facilities not operational or lifts pools etc need work done and have probably been on the market for a long long time with little or no movement ..  apartments and townhouses tend to be on complexes and there are almost always issues with committees and non payers etc not to mention many of the older complexes of say 15yrs old are getting old and facilities like lifts and sewage plants are coming to the end of their usable lives which will undoubtedly mean major expense repair or refurb and that means a significant increase in communal charges that not everyone wants to pay.... some properties will be owned by banks looking to recover the debts, some will be on projects that are out in the sticks with little or no social activity  and mat even require a car to get around..bus services are limited...... that's not to say you can't pick up a bargain but then it's down to you as to what youve bought and what you can afford to do to it.

So be aware be wary and beware.....

I would suggest you seriously look at increasing your budget for a home ..2 bed properties now are at a premium ..  most will go for around €150k. And without much change... Unless things change dramatically ...if it drops you are quids in.. If it doesn't then you are still in with a shout...good luck

i agree with Toon, i think your budget of £100k is too low to get anything decent, especially in the West around the Paphos area. You get more bang for your buck in the East, even the North is becoming more expensive.

A couple of the things on costs, electricity here is expensive as is broadband and mobile phone contracts. Buying a second hand car here is very expensive compared to the UK. if you already have a decent car explore bringing it across.

My car insurance is around €300 per year, property insurance cost a little more @ €400 per year. Water rates and garbage collection cost around €480 a year. There is no Council Tax as we know it.

I am fortunate that i have a 4Kw Photovoltaic system so my Electricity bills are around €350 a year without it they would be €1500 a year. Decent broadband and two mobile phone contracts cost around €900 per year. So your yearly costs are around €4200. if you live in a complex you would also have communal fees to pay, no idea what those will be.

@psmurphy To be honest if you are buying your income is fine you can live comfortably here on €2000 a month as a couple. The problem is getting past immigration as the financial criteria are higher than they really need to be and likely to get higher as time goes on.

thanks for all your helpful comments really appreciated

Forgive the questions but I am coming from a place of ignorance at the moment

@MacGeorge8035Today

We are UK passport holders, so is it worth getting EU passports and is that easy?

The annual income of £24,400pa I assume this also means pension income? If this is not met how would significate savings be taken into account? We would be able to deposit £30,000k into a Cypriot Bank account

Thanks for the breakdown of costs - really helpful

@Toon

Thanks for a more realistic assessment of property costs, we will increase our budget in our calculations even if this means adding a bit of time before we stop working and move to the sun

@psmurphy If you have Irish parents or grand parents you could apply for an Irish passport. not sure how long it takes.

Both parents were UK residents\passport holders

@psmurphy Getting an Eu passport is almost impossible unless you are very rich and happy to invest a great deal of money. What about grand parents?

@psmurphy On income from the UK, it can be any of following; State Pension, Private Pension, interest from savings, rental income of UK property and dividends from investments. You should check out the tax implications as you are planning to retire before you reach UK state pension age. There are advantages to being tax resident in Cyprus.

@MacGeorge8035

Granddad was Irish

@psmurphy You need to look into getting an Irish passport if your Grandfather was Irish. It will make everything so much easier for you both. Before you do anything else about moving to Cyprus, I would get that sorted first.

Totally agree with MacGeorge..   getting the irish passport is your first task and it doesn't matter how long it takes but to be fair my mate did it not so long ago and  its well.worth it....... No need for the xrays and blood tests etc it only takes one of you to get it as the other would apply as a family member of an EU national.....   ...its a game changer for you both .... Makes everything considerably easier with more rights.... Especially when buying it's a lot faster as you wouldn't need to get permission to buy from the Council of Ministers.....

I know it's a lot to take in but you are doing the right thing ... Research groundwork and planning.. getting your documents prepared in readiness for a new adventure. Even as an EU national relocation is still daunting and frustrating...we've done it twice in 16 years, both times as EU nationals alas we are no more and dont have any Irish blood in our veins ...Scottish at best...  We are so glad we don't have to do it now....

Moving forward am sure there will be many questions to come so just ask away...there are lots of good people here with all manner of experiences to share. ...

Good luck

On costs in my scenario

Large 2 bed 1 bath apartment of 86m2 and balconies of 20m2. 400m from centre of village On a complex of 50+ units with a pool.

Average per month over 12months

Electricity 125

Water 13

Internet 80mbps 53

Fuel 60

Municipality IPT 2

Refuse 12

TV services 7

Comm fees 113 covers pool lifts communal areas cleaning electricity water and lighting plus communal insurances

Car Ins 32

Home Ins buildings & contents 35

Car servicing 18

Road tax 5

Mobiles unlimited 10 each

Groceries & Household 500

Social 500

Bank account fees13

Joint life ins cover 18

Blue Cross ambulance service 40

As for medical care GESY it's not free but low cost and has limited visits depending on age but as you would be retiring early you wouldn't be entitled to GESY but you will pay for it through annual taxation returns at 2.65% of declared income despite having to pay for private healthcare cover. Doctors visits, hospital visits and special consultants will need to be paid for by you or your healthcare insurance provider.  Further if you need meds make sure whatever you need is available here and check costs of them.

Oh and don't close your uk bank accounts.. once you've closed them there is no getting them back...

JFYI our apartment has risen in value by 40% since we bought 3 years ago....

Ditto on all the above. The biggest hurdle was immigration for sure in march 2023 so get an EU passport asap. Then just do as much preparation and research as u can. Check out removal people. We used Peter Morton and they were good. Still cost a lot as we brought our car simply because cars are not cheap here. Time from packing to arrival customs cleared was 7 weeks. Car and motorcycle clearance took 14 months! We r looking at a 2005 ford street ka 9000 kilometres in good nick for 5000 euro. I expect less than half that price in the UK. Insurance will be about 340 euro fully comp. Our experience is things are more expensive than the UK and what we found when on holidays. Living abroad is not the same as holidays as there are things you need to live but not for holiday. Our research before the trip showed lower rentals and house  prices than when we arrived. We spent 2 years working towards the move and the increase in price was a lot. As a heads up all property unless new build is fully furnished even pots and pans lol. Do not bring a whole house unless you intend to dump what is in the house you buy. eBay and charity shops will be your friend. We created a big list of tasks in priority order and worked thu it. If you were in Cyprus in 2020 on holiday and can prove it apparently you can apply for perm residency? Keep asking questions and good luck it will absolutely be worth all the effort life out of the UK is so much better

@psmurphy Try this link i believe it explains how to get an Irish Passport based on your Grandfather.

https://www.dfa.ie/globalirishhub/archi … 0Register.

Again thanks for all the information, invaluable

Your outgoings figures have gone into my spreadsheet

After looking at some websites I agree cars look to be more on the expensive side but we only run small cars now so 5-6000 euros should cover a car between us

Will chat with my dad later to get the info on my grandad and start my applicaiton for an Irish passport

You mention payment for meds - so we would need to buy what we need based on a perscription?

Before we retire it looks like Health Insurance is a must - any thoughts on prices \ good providers of this?

I've also noticed a lot of Cypriot websites (.cy) are in English, how prevalant is the use of English in Cyprus? I like that the wall sockets are the right 3 point ones and they drive on the correct side of the road due to being part of the British Empire then a Crown colony

Try the insurance brokers . Abbeygate Top Quotes Atlantic Pacific Status get quotes and then compare

English is widely spoken and most websites have English functionality

Picking up on the need for an annual income which I came across on another thread which states;

On the income side, you need an annual income of at least €28,800 for a couple this must all come from outside of Cyprus (Pensions, Rental Income, Interest payments etc.).

We will have no income before we retire, we plan to retire at 57 in 5 years time and will have savings of around £350k after saving up and selling our property in the UK. From 67 onwards its a state pension which at the moment would give us £21,216 a year and we will also have around £100k savings left

Will the above be ok in terms of no income but having savings

Not 100% sure but I got the feeling that they want to see regular income not savings ...however that all changes with an Irish passport and freedom of movement...and a right to work even part time .....  We came here as EU nationals under the old self sufficiency cat F (not the new one which is useless) and some private pensions with savings.... Got temporary residency 2014 then 5 yrs down the line got permanent... Under EU rules

Even under eu rules as an EU national we still had to prove we could support ourselves without being a burden on the country we relocated to ... Malta and Cyprus

@psmurphy

As a kind of guide ..I know it's 10yrs ago we did go the route of a healthcare insurance package each through Abbeygate and ING it was their Bronze package and that was then €700 each per year...we did it for the first year then we found a cheap but limited package that satisfied immigration at €180 per yr each which we did till we got our pensions and S1s....  Then we registered for GESY in 2019 and got our tax exemptions for the GESY tax.

    @psmurphy If you have Irish parents or grand parents you could apply for an Irish passport. not sure how long it takes.        -@MacGeorge8035

1 to 1.5 years for an Irish passport, if all the paperwork is fine. So I would start now with the process.

@SimCityAT

Nah it's not that long a friend of mine did it last year 6- 8 months but that included a month or two delay as the application got lost...and i am told it's much quicker now...

@Toon

I had a friend do his, and took that that long. But it was at high when everyone was applying for a passport.

At least you don't have to give up your UK passport.

@SimCityAT

Am sure some will experience delays for all manner of reasons....   Much the same as other matters

@psmurphy

It's always good to have a plan! :-)

If your monthly budget is 1,750 I think that's doable, but perhaps will be at the more frugal end of the lifestyle spectrum. You should note that Cyprus minimum wage is about 1,000 euros per month, and you'll have the cost of private insurance to factor in too.

If that's your total income, I think (as others have noted) you might be short on the immigration requirements. However, I suppose if this is your expected income at 57, then it might be that you can look forward to another couple of grand coming when you hit state retirement age... and it's merely a plan delayed.

If you're determined to relocate, I would suggest you consider buying sooner, rather than allowing 5 more years of property inflation. It's a worthwhile exercise to explore the island and see which locations you like, and what kind of property is available for your budget. You can enjoy some years of sunshine holidays before relocating.

Personally, I love Cyprus, it's a beautiful little country... and I greatly miss my morning swims in the Med and my bike rides along the cliffs of Kourion. But I find it very expensive these days, and the last few years have seen some steep property inflation. As a result (as I'm not a wealthy Russian), we are mostly elsewhere, and we spent only a couple of weeks there last year. It's different for folks who have already settled in, and own property from years ago... but as a retirement option today (let alone 5 years in the future), I think it's among the pricier options. I suggest it's worth considering widening your retirement options and seeing where else might appeal.

The EU is much more difficult for Brits since Brexit, as we all know. If you can obtain an EU passport that would definitely simply relocation. But even with an EU passport, I'd be hesitant about Cyprus from the cost perspective. As a non-EU citizen, I'd probably look at Spain and Portugal first as they both have easier residence visa options.