Renting out a property in Cyprus

We tried to source this page from the Cyprus Tax Department, gov.cy and the Central Bank of Cyprus directly. Every one returned an HTTP 403 error or a certificate error on every attempt on 13 August 2026, the same wall we hit researching our cost of buying guide. So most of what follows is attributed to dated professional sources rather than confirmed on a government page, and we say so at each point rather than presenting it as settled.

Can I let out a property I buy in Cyprus?

Yes. There is no legal bar on letting out a residential property you own in Cyprus, whether long-term or short-term. What changes with a tenancy is not your right to grant it but the tax and registration obligations that come with it, and, if you bought at the reduced VAT rate, a condition attached to that rate.

A. DomeNik Residence is scheduled for handover in July 2027. Because the building will be completed after 31 January 1999, any tenancy here would fall outside the Rent Control Law and be a free market tenancy. That point is set out under rent control below.

What tax would I pay on rental income?

Rental income is taxed as part of your personal income under the Cyprus income tax bands. Under the 2026 tax reform, enacted 22 December 2025 and in force for tax years from 1 January 2026, the tax free threshold is reported to have risen to €22,000, with 20% charged on income from €22,001 to €32,000, 25% from €32,001 to €42,000, 30% from €42,001 to €72,000 and 35% above €72,001. This is reported consistently by KPMG, PwC, Harneys, Sovereign Group and IBCCS. We could not confirm the bands on a Cyprus Tax Department page, because its pages returned an error on every attempt.

A standard 20% deemed deduction against gross rental income is reported to continue under the reform, with no receipts required to claim it. So the taxable figure is reported to be 80% of gross rent before the bands above apply, though again we could not confirm this on a government page.

A General Healthcare System (GESY) contribution is reported at 2.65% of gross rental income, payable by the individual landlord, self assessed twice yearly, or withheld at source where the tenant is a company. The Health Insurance Organisation's own pages could not be loaded, so this figure is attributed rather than confirmed.

The Special Defence Contribution, previously charged at 3% on 75% of gross rent for landlords who were both Cyprus tax resident and Cyprus domiciled, is reported by multiple 2026-dated professional sources to have been abolished from 1 January 2026 as part of the same reform. Under the previous regime, non-domiciled residents were exempt from it in any case, so the practical direction for most overseas buyers is unchanged either way. We have not seen the abolition confirmed on a government page, and we are treating it as reported rather than settled.

What happens to my VAT if I took the reduced rate and then let it out?

This is the item most likely to catch a buyer out, so read it even if you plan to live in the property yourself for now. Our cost of buying guide sets out the reduced 5% VAT rate available on a qualifying first permanent residence. Multiple professional sources, including KPMG, Deloitte and PwC, report that the same law, Law 42(I)/2023, in force from 16 June 2023, attaches a condition to that rate: you must go on using the property as your declared primary and permanent residence for ten years from first use or occupation.

Ceasing that use before the ten years are up is reported to trigger a repayment. Sources describe the trigger as covering both selling the property and letting it out within the ten years. No source we found suggests that letting is treated more leniently than a sale.

The repayment itself is reported as pro rata to the remaining part of the ten year period, not a full repayment of the VAT saving. One source gives the example of a change of use after four years requiring repayment of six tenths of the original VAT saving. One source also reports that the owner must notify the Tax Commissioner of a change of use within 30 days. None of this is confirmed on a government page, and our own cost of buying guide already flags the ten year condition itself as unverified.

Cyprus published Decrees 102/2026 and 103/2026 on 27 February 2026, reported by Deloitte to take effect from 1 September 2026, nineteen days after this page was last checked. They are reported to redefine first occupation and first use to explicitly include letting as a triggering use, and to require demonstrated use of at least 18 months. If you are reading this after 1 September 2026, treat this whole section as needing a fresh check with your lawyer, because the definitions it depends on are reported to be changing.

Do I need to register a short-term let?

Registration with the Deputy Ministry of Tourism's register of self-catering accommodation is reported as mandatory before you advertise or let a property short-term, with the registration number required to appear on every advertisement. We could not confirm this on the Ministry's own pages, which returned an error on every attempt, so what follows is reported rather than confirmed.

A registration fee of €222 for a three year permit is reported, along with penalties for letting without registration reported as up to one year's imprisonment and/or a fine of up to €5,000, plus up to €200 for each day the violation continues. Sources disagree on which law governs this: some cite Law 9(I)/2020, others Law 34(I)/2019 as amended in 2020. We could not resolve which is correct, and we are not going to pick one and present it as fact.

If you are considering short-term or holiday letting rather than a long-term tenancy, treat registration as a step to complete before your first booking, and ask your lawyer to confirm the correct statute and current fee.

Is my tenancy covered by rent control?

No. The Rent Control Law, Law 23/1983, applies only to buildings completed before 31 January 1999, a date fixed in the law's own text. We read the text at CyLaw, a legal repository, because the government's own copy could not be reached. A. DomeNik Residence, scheduled for handover in July 2027, falls well outside that date, so any tenancy here would be a free market tenancy rather than a controlled one.

A free market tenancy means rent, duration and termination terms are set by agreement between landlord and tenant, rather than by statutory rent limits or security of tenure rules. Put the terms in a written contract.

Does the tenancy agreement need to be stamped?

We do not know, and we think that is worth saying plainly rather than guessing. Our cost of buying guide establishes, from the Registrar of Companies, that the Stamp Duty Laws of 1963 to 2025 were repealed by Law 239(I)/2025 with effect from 1 January 2026. Separately, older sources describe Cyprus tenancy agreements as requiring stamping under the Stamp Duty Law, but every one of those sources is undated or predates the repeal.

Whether a lease signed today still needs stamping under a different rule, or does not need stamping at all, is not something we can resolve from what we could reach. Ask your lawyer this question directly before you sign a tenancy agreement.

What rental yield can I expect?

We are not going to give you one, because no Cyprus government or central bank source publishes one. We checked directly rather than assume.

The Cyprus Statistical Service's House Price Index report, covering 2015 to 2024 and published in December 2025, contains sale price indices, median sale price per square metre by district, sales volumes and buyer nationality tables. It contains no rent figure, no rental price index and no rental yield of any kind. The Central Bank's Residential Property Price Index is built from mortgage valuation data, which is also sale prices, not rents.

What the CyStat report does show is a sale price trend: median sale price in Limassol was €2,975 per square metre in 2024, up from €1,749 per square metre in 2015, an increase the report itself describes as approximately 70%. That is a sale price figure. It says nothing about rent levels or occupancy, and we are not going to let it drift into implying one.

Any rental yield figure you see quoted on a property portal or in an agency market report is not sourced to Cyprus government or central bank data, because no such data is published. That is worth knowing before you weigh one against a stated price.

What would I need to check for this specific building?

The registered co-ownership regulations for the building, not general tenancy law, are what would govern any building-level restriction on letting. We did not find a statutory community veto on short lets in Cyprus law.

Secondary sources note that changing a building's standard co-ownership regulations needs consent from owners representing 75% of the ownership share. We have not set a position for A. DomeNik Residence itself in this guide, because the honest answer depends on the registered regulations for this specific building. Ask us directly and we will tell you what applies here before you buy.

The two remaining residences at A. DomeNik Residence

Two of the six residences remain unsold, both on the third and top floor with a private roof garden fitted with a WC, a bathroom, a BBQ area and jacuzzi provision.

Total area comprises covered interior, covered veranda and private roof garden.