Real property law

Rent or buy? Both options have become almost too expensive to contemplate, especially for aspiring homeowners in Greece who must also arrange for a bank loan.

This year, landlords and tenants have filed tens of thousands of legal cases to resolve the disagreements and conflicts among them, overwhelming the country's courts.

Some 90,000 rent dispute related legal cases have been opened at courts since the start of the year, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said, noting that this marked a 100 percent increase from a year ago.

The online property registry will become fully operational on November 1, allowing notaries public, buyers and sellers to complete transactions more quickly, without involving municipalities, tax offices or other state agencies in collecting the necessary paperwork.

Police in Cyprus were dispatched on Monday night to quell a brewing riot at a residential complex in Chloraka, a village some 3 kilometers from Paphos, on the island's southwestern coast, that has reportedly been taken over by migrant squatters.

As growing disputes between tenants and property owners show no sign of abating, landlords are increasingly preferring to lease out their homes on a short-term basis.

Their favorite potential occupants are now students who most landlords in the past simply avoided.

The rent crisis, which has been affecting millions of citizens for more than two years, has become one of the priorities of the public.

Last year, a 25 percent cap on rent increases was imposed by the government, and the deadline was extended this year.

EFKA, the country's main pension fund, is proceeding with the utilization of an important asset, the building at 16 Praxitelous Street, very close to Klafthmonos Square in central Athens.

Property owners will need to have insurance coverage for earthquake, fire or flood in order to enjoy the 10% discount on their Single Property Tax (ENFIA) bill next year based on the provision included in the bill of the National Economy and Finance Ministry.

The government is about to initiate changes in the legal framework and possibly taxation for some 145,000 residences in Greece.

A significant mobilization by the Cypriot government and the Central Bank of Cyprus this week regarding the framework of foreclosures bore fruit. It primarily aimed to withdraw the "problematic" proposal that, according to the state and banks, would have negative consequences for the Cypriot economy.