How to rent an apartment or house in Cyprus
Let’s talk about apartments and houses for rent in Cyprus. We will tell you what resources to look for options and what are the features of long-term and short-term rentals. We will talk about deposits, utilities, the Internet, and what affects the price of rental housing.
The first question you will face when moving to Cyprus is finding a place to rent. You may be planning to buy property on the island, but you often need to live somewhere temporarily while you look for an apartment or villa for investment.
Another situation: you are not going to buy an apartment in Cyprus. You are interested in a long-term lease, but for the first time, you need an apartment for rent while looking for your ideal long-term accommodation.
Where to look for apartments to rent in Cyprus?
Situation one: you are abroad and looking for accommodation on an island. In this case, it is most convenient to look for short-term options on international sites:
The price here will be higher than on local portals, but these services are more convenient when you are in another country. You can find accommodation for a week or two, but you will need a permanent accommodation option.
We recommend you look for an apartment for a long-term stay on the island — it will be cheaper and more reliable. You can personally examine your apartment and understand whether it suits you for living.
Once you arrive on the island, you have three options for finding apartments or villas to rent for the long term:
- Bazaraki — local classifieds portal. Here you can find almost anything: an apartment, a car, and many other goods. But sometimes, there are irrelevant offers because sellers do not permanently remove objects that have already been sold or commissioned. If you like an apartment, don’t wait too long to call the landlord because suitable apartments go like hotcakes.
- Searching for homes on Facebook — yes, in Cyprus, this is a popular method, as there are not many relevant sites, and landlords with realtors often do business on the Facebook marketplace. Here are the most pertinent groups:
Where to Find an Apartment or House to Rent in Cyprus
Peculiarities of short-term and long-term rentals
Since the Republic of Cyprus is a resort country, the rental price varies depending on the season. During the high season (May to October), the price soars up to 40% due to the influx of tourists and increased demand, and during the low season (November to April), it drops.
Also, the price of long-term and short-term rentals is different. A long-term lease is concluded for one year or more. A short-term lease is for up to a year. And the latter can be in recalculation twice as high.
Since the beginning of 2022, due to the situation in Ukraine and the influx of Ukrainian, Russian, and Belarusian immigrants, demand has not decreased even during the off-season, which caused a steady increase in prices. Relocatees sell out any options that appear on the market in 2-4 hours. Therefore, unfortunately, you will not have much time to think about it.
In Cyprus, the number of rooms in the listings is listed by bedroom. This means that a 2-bedroom apartment will have two bedrooms + a living room, which in the understanding of the citizens of the CIS — has three rooms. As a rule, the living room always has a sofa bed and an open-plan kitchen studio, and the number of bathrooms often depends on the number of bedrooms.
Deposit when renting an apartment
A rental deposit is a security deposit paid when you sign a contract and is usually one or two months' rent. It is refundable at checkout if the tenant has not violated the rules of the agreement and the apartment does not require repairs after renting. Landlords do not like to return a cash deposit, so it is easier to agree before you move out that the deposit will be used towards the last month’s rent.
In the rental agreement, the payment terms include the cost of the first month of your stay and one, two, or three deposits, each equal to the amount of the monthly rent. You will also need to make deposits on utility bills for electricity and water.
All deposits, including those you paid for utilities, will be returned to you after the end of the rental period under the terms of the contract (1-2 weeks after termination of the contract).
Please note! The contract may stipulate that the rent deposit is returned only in case of the end of the rental period according to the agreement. Even if you leave the apartment earlier by giving two months' notice to the landlords, you may not get your money back. However, if you have a good relationship, the landlords may let you live for the last month because of the deposit.
Thus, you should budget for rent in advance:
- The monthly cost of housing;
- The number of deposits required by the landlord (usually 1-2 deposits);
- Electricity deposit — 200 € for foreign EU citizens and 350 € for foreigners from the third countries;
- Water deposit — 150. €
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Terms of renting a house and an apartment in Cyprus
How do I pay for utilities in Cyprus?
When entering into a long-term rental contract for an apartment or villa, you will need to reissue all the utility meters in your name because the utilities here are expensive.
Be prepared that the first day you move into your new home will not have light or water, as all these services are connected to each subsequent tenant.
Therefore, the first thing you need to do after signing the contract is to go together with the owners of the apartment or house to the electricity company and the water company to reissue all personal accounts in your name and make deposits. You do not need many documents — just your passport and rental agreement. When you return home, you will already have light and water.
Utility bills also include fees for cleaning the complex where you live and for garbage collection. In most cases, you will have to pay for electricity, water, and garbage, and the owners will pay for cleaning the complex from the rent.
The frequency of payment of the utility bill is as follows:
- electricity — once every two months;
- water — once every three months;
- garbage — once a year;
- cleaning of the complex — once every four months.
There is no centralized gas supply in Cyprus. You can have a gas stove in your house, but you must buy gas in a cylinder and connect it manually.
When it comes to heating water, there are solar panels on the roofs of all houses, which heat water in water tanks, distributed to the dwellings. However, there is not enough energy on cloudy days in winter due to the lack of sunshine, so the water is cold. To solve this problem, all homes are equipped with a water heater.
Home heating in the winter months is also done with electricity.
Electricity bills are usually substantial. You can pay them at a bank branch, by visiting the relevant authority, or online — in the latter case, you will receive an email with a payment link to your email account.
For complete information, you can visit the official websites of the utility companies:
How to connect the home Internet in Cyprus?
As soon as you move into your new home, there is no Internet. When each tenant moves out, the contract to provide Internet service breaks, and the company takes the router away. So you will need to contact your service provider immediately and order a home internet connection.
To do this, you will need to come to the provider’s office, write an application and provide documents — a foreign passport and a rental agreement. You won’t have to pay anything right away. The bill for services will come to you after a month, but in addition to the amount for the Internet, there will also be a one-time fee for the router fee of about 30 euros. This price may vary from provider to provider.
After you apply, a technician will come to your home within seven days, run the cable, set up the Internet, and install the router. Each provider provides his router, which he then takes back after the contract is terminated.
Do not let the question of a visit to the master go unnoticed. It is not uncommon for them to be delayed. That is why you should call the office and demand a technician come as soon as possible.
But what kind of home Internet in Cyprus to choose from?
Here are the leading Internet service providers in Cyprus:
- CYTA — the most common Internet service provider on the island gives the most coverage and stable connection quality.
- PrimeTel — a young Cypriot company (founded in 2003) covering Limassol offers democratic prices for home internet.
- Epic — offers the opportunity to pay only 20 euros per month for a year for an Internet speed of 200 Mbit / s, installing the Internet connection and router is free.
- AlphaNet — a young company covering Limassol and the suburbs, with Russian-speaking support.
- CableNet — relatively inexpensive high-speed Internet that works in some areas of the island. You should check to see if there is a connection in your area.
We advise you to connect to CYTA Internet because it has the most coverage and stable operation at a reasonable price.
Be prepared that whatever speed package you purchase, you will only get 64% of the advertised speed in the output. There are many reasons for this, but there is no way to change it. During peak hours of Internet use, the rates can drop even more. CableNet has the fastest speeds, but its coverage on the island is not very high.
The price to rent an apartment or house in Cyprus: what does it depend on?
Several factors influence prices for apartments and houses for rent in Cyprus. They vary from city to city and within the same city. The cost increases in the following cases:
- The choice of cities — the capital Nicosia and the business center of Limassol are the most expensive, with prices 40% higher than in other regions.
- Location about the sea — the housing on the beachfront is the most expensive, and the farther it is from the coast, the lower the cost. The price of similar properties is minimal in the city center and remote mountain villages.
- Infrastructure — well-developed infrastructure, schools, stores, supermarkets, pharmacies, hospitals, restaurants, and taverns nearby.
- The number of rooms, the amount of space, and the presence of verandas — the more living and overall area, the more expensive the house or apartment will be.
- The development of the adjacent territory, the presence of a swimming pool, landscaped garden, park area, playground, parking spaces, and storage.
- The presence of internal services in your complex — beauty salons and barbershops, stores and kiosks, a gym, yoga, and other amenities.
- The quality of finish, furniture, the degree of wear and tear, and the view from the window.
- Availability of all necessary things and appliances in the apartment or house — the more household items and the newer they are, the higher the rental price.
Price of apartment or house for rent in Cyprus
How much does renting an apartment or a villa in Cyprus cost? We have collected the starting prices by region at the beginning of 2023:
- Cheapest in Larnaca — 600-900 euros;
- Pafos — 700-1000 euros;
- Nicosia — 800-1200 euros;
- The most expensive is Limassol — 1500-2500 euros.
The prices are approximate. If you want, you can find a little cheaper and much more expensive housing. The upper price cap is practically unlimited, as well as the luxury apartments you will rent.
When saving money, you should understand that accommodation in villages and districts far from the center will be cheaper, but you will need a car which will increase the cost of gasoline, maintenance, and rental car. In Cyprus, public transport is poorly developed, and all islanders move mainly by own or rented vehicles. Therefore, do not count on walking access to all vital facilities — most of them are scattered throughout the location and cannot be reached on foot.
Also, read about how to get permanent residency in Cyprus under the accelerated procedure and what you need. Let’s talk about obtaining permanent residence through real estate investments.
And we are pleased to offer you the top 10 residential real estate in Cyprus for temporary permanent residence. You can see the apartments, compare prices and choose what suits you best.
SPM is your most valuable contact in Cyprus.
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