Property Advice

Í believe if you have been legally resident  in Ireland for a specific number of years ( I think 5 years but please check as am not sure if its all of Ireland or just Northern Ireland) you have the right to apply for an Irish passport..  that being true, i would go for the passport as that makes you an EU national and thus makes your relocation and residency here considerably easier and without the heavy financial medical and healthcare requirements etc... OR if you have Irish connections back to grandparents  you could do the same

Plus if buying a property it also means that you would not be subject to Council of Ministers permission to buy delays.. these can be significant delays.

Always make sure the property physically has title deeds and that the land it is built on is part of the same deed and not in any way encumbered by a developers mortgage.

Also search here for Title Deeds Debacle.......

Welcome to the forum.

There is plenty to look for and other threads on here will give some details. Things change all the time so if you read something be sure to test it in your situation and at your point in time.

Where to live is personal preference for sure. If you intend to stay here then above the humidity line is well worth considering. You will probably have plenty of people who want to visit so not too far from an airport will help. I recommend you chose a location and then spend thime there. Do not buy but rent for a year just to make sure. I know it seem a waste of money renting but it is far cheaper than making a mistake and taking 2 years to sell!

Unless you like spending large amounts of time in officials offices I recommend engage a professional for immigration and everything else you need. Yes it costs money but it takes the frustration out as frustration is the key in Cyprus! Everything slower that you can possibly imaging. It took 14 months to clear my vehicles thru customs and probably 10 visits to the customs office :-/

Ask plenty of questions and test all answers to ensure they are correct. Even the professionals are not always up to speed with the rules.

Get an EU password if you can thru family history. It will make it cheaper and quicker. If you cannot then just plan well in advance. I spent 2 years planning and researching before our move.

There will be docs you need from the UK and you need to get these before you leave. Don't forget to complete the HMRC P85 on exit and it you are in recpt of the UK state pension you will get a S1 to get the national health here. This takes a while and in the meantime you will need private health insurance including repatriation.

A lot of work but well worth it as life here is way better than the UK, Doctors, TAX, food, wine and sunshine what's not to like lol

I second Phil's comments .rent first always as property and locations aren't always what they appear to be i.e. summer viewings  maybe completely different in winter ... IE mould hidden by a paint job then appear in winter ..

Always visit morning noon and night as the dynamics of a property location changes

Hi,thanks for the information everyone.

We have been in Ireland 31 years and getting a passport is not so easy now as lots of people applying at the moment.

I get a state pension from Ireland and from the UK as I have worked in both countries.

I wonder if I can get health care S1 from Ireland as we get free health care here.

There's a lot of questions but it's knowing who to ask for the correct answers.

Reference to the mould and damp would a higher floor in an apartment be better or does the problem affect all buildings ?

Thanks again Kieron

It's not rising damp in higher buildings like apartments it's heating cooling and poor ventilation habits causes condensation and then the mould... Many properties suffer with it ..we ve been in a higher building for three years now and suffer very little of it but we use AC not gas and ventilate regularly.

Another issue is the bursting of plaster almost everyone suffers from it eventually..at lower levels of walls and of course ceilings observe ceilings closely as sometimes you can't see it immediately... It's the salts rising I believe in the plaster.. and poor building practices ...sometimes it can take the cover back to the concrete and rebar.

@kieronlaws57 Although lots of UK passport holders are applying for Irish passports it doesn't take as long as the press says.  My kids did it recently and they do try to delay by saying they couldn't get in touch with the references but so worth it for anywhere in the UK.  Don't even think of not doing it as it only takes a few weeks in the end.  It made it so much easier for us as I was an EU citizen and my husband (English) my dependant.  Borrow any money you might want for new car etc.  Also if a car is registered in Ireland and fairly new you can import it with lower costs than GB cars.  In terms of location I would choose somewhere that has at least some aspect of bus service for the odd times you might need it.  Many villages have a bus service.

@lshill,Hi,and thanks for your advice.

I've just contacted a solicitor to get some ideas on costs to become an Irish citizen first before we can apply for a passport.

Firstly it's €300.00 for a consultation with the solicitor then about a €1000.00 each to deal with the application for the solicitor.

The application it's self is €175.00 each and a further fee of €950.00 for certification of successful and then the passport fees so it's an expensive operation.

I think we will take a look at property when we are over and if anything takes our fancy we can make a few enquiries what it cost the British passport holders to see how it balances out.

@kieronlaws57  If you have lived in Ireland 3 years out of the last 5 then you can apply yourself for less cost than going through a solicitor.  Otherwise it seems expensive.  I was born in NI so it was easy for me to do.