Paphos People

Hi, My wife and I have been wanting to retire to Cyprus for several years now. We are hoping that we may now be in a financial position to do so. Our main concern has been the fact do we have the statutory required secure income, we have found it impossible to get a definite answer.Our combined monthly income will be about 1500euros, this will be made up from my wife's state pension,our private pensions,my military preserved pension and investments from the sale of our property in the UK,I will also be eligible for a state pension in five years time. We have decided on a long term rental as opposed to buying, we have some experience of food shopping in Cyprus as all our holidays have been self catering in a village (Tochni).We live a fairly basic lifestyle and do not intend to eat out and party, boring old f***s really. I suppose what we want to know for definite is,is our income the required statutory minimum? if so we are prepared to make the move.Any further information would be most welcome.

Many thanks John & Sheila

HI John & Sheila
Welcome to P.P , what a good question ?
does this monthly fee need to take into account the rent you will have to pay here ..??

_________________
REACH 1000`s of PAPHOS CUSTOMERS EVERY DAY FOR A FRACTION OF WHAT THE OTHERS CHARGE
----------------------------------------------------------------
Whilst the optimist and the pessimist argued that the whisky glass was either half full
or half empty ? .
I drank it .....
The opportunist..

Hi John & Sheila,

A couple of years ago €1500 would have provided a comfortable retirement lifestyle. Today,food prices, petrol and electricity have all rocketed , also the exchange rate has reduced sterling pensions by 25%. You could rent a place for around €350 , then add in all your utility costs and food etc. Don't forget private health care until you reach state pension age . You may struggle on your income , but having said that others do.

All best.

John

_________________
I intend to live forever -- so far so good.

Hi John,
Thanks for your info, with regards to healthcare, we have been advised that because my wife is in receipt of a state pension she is entitled to free healthcare,and because I would be classed as a dependant I would receive it also.
Our main concern is the question of the amount of income the Cypriot Government requires proof of before they will grant permanent residence status,we just can't seem to get a definite answer. We don't want to upsticks and then find out that we can't remain in the country, so we really do need to know for definite.

Many thanks, John & Sheila.

I can tell you that 1500 would be enough for you to live on ,
I have just done a quick tote-up in my head , ... rent, food, electric, water, etc, etc.
and its ok ..
you wont get a villa with a pool for that though

_________________
REACH 1000`s of PAPHOS CUSTOMERS EVERY DAY FOR A FRACTION OF WHAT THE OTHERS CHARGE
----------------------------------------------------------------
Whilst the optimist and the pessimist argued that the whisky glass was either half full
or half empty ? .
I drank it .....
The opportunist..

Thanks Neil, We are coming out on holiday early October, so we will be looking at long term rental property whilst we are there, we don't want anything flash, 3 bedrooms detatched in a village would be ideal. We've looked at some online, it appears we are looking at 400-550euros, but have been told there can be room for negotiation.

Thanks again, John & Sheila.

I have tried this question on other forums and you never get a straight answer .

The question is DOES CYPRUS HAVE A MINIMUM AMOUNT OF INCOME YOU HAVE TO HAVE TO BECOME A PERMANENT RESIDENT ?

Maybe best to call in at the Immigration Centre when you are out on holiday and see if you can get any sense out of them. You just may catch them on a good day. They do want to see your bank statements and health arrangements etc.

_________________
I intend to live forever -- so far so good.

Hi John & Shiela,

Could be some info here, the site wouldn't let me 'copy & paste'


http://www.rent-a-villa-in-paphos.com/C ... ation.html


also you can try and 'google' some more sites

_________________
Mal

I think the answer is no, there is no statutory income for EU citizens. When registering at immigration, they do look for evidence of income. I suspect this is to check you have some at all, rather then a check to see you have enough.

Looking at the figure you give, it comes in at a little under the tax threshold. Which means you will be earning more than a significant number of locals, and should have a comfortable lifestyle. This is, of course, if you don't go mad with the big villa, large pool, and chunky 4WD.

_________________
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. - Albert Einstein

" Looking at the figure you give, it comes in at a little under the tax threshold."

The Combined figure is well under the tax threshold of €19,500 per person, as individually they would have an average income of €9,000.

D

_________________
I HAVE A PICASA WEB ALBUM SHOWING THE BUILDING OF OUR HOME IN POLEMI. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO VIEW IT, THEN JUST SEND ME AN EMAIL OR PM, FOR THE LIVE LINK.

The wife and I, pay ourselves 855 euros each per month
and this is considered more than enough to live on ...

But I think the straight answer is ,, there is no limit ..

_________________
REACH 1000`s of PAPHOS CUSTOMERS EVERY DAY FOR A FRACTION OF WHAT THE OTHERS CHARGE
----------------------------------------------------------------
Whilst the optimist and the pessimist argued that the whisky glass was either half full
or half empty ? .
I drank it .....
The opportunist..

John and Sheila

Why waste all that money renting a place?

As I see it, people who rent are not committed to living in cyprus and return to UK at the first excuse.

Good luck.

Alan

Well done Malsue , your link does provide some info ,

" Please note that the required secured annual income for a person is EU€9,500 (approximately GBP£6,590) plus EU€4,600 (approximately GBP£3,180) for each dependent person. "

Perhaps my scissors are sharper than yours (cut and paste)

I think it all boils down to not being a financial burden on your chosen country of residence .... so having health cover (E121 should do it) and not needing social security.

Me and my wife intend to do the same , the way I see it no way could we afford to buy a villa with pool in Cyprus but at age 60 we could rent one for 10 years and if we are still around at the end of 10 years ?????

We sold our house in UK and moved permanently to Cyprus just over 6yrs ago. We live in Limassol and rent a 3 bedroom bungalow (semi detached) in one of the suburbs about 12km outside of the tourist area of Limassol.

My monthly salary is roughly the amount you queried and we can both live comfortably on that. You won't have a lot left at the end of each month but if you have a property to sell in the UK, I would most certainly recommend putting the proceeds into the best bank account you can get and live on your income rather than buying a property outright.

Too many people make the mistake of buying in the wrong location at the beginning. Better to have a few trial runs without too much expense and finding the right village, town, resort even before making a final commitment.

It doesn't mean you're not committed to "the cause" of moving to Cyprus, just that you are being careful about committing in the right area! We are too indoctrinated with buying into property but you will find that renting is quite the "done" thing in most European countries.

We are still in the very same property we started off in and our rent is €450 a month. We started off paying Cy£250 per month (before the euro) which equates to €423. Our rent went up for the first time in 2009. We have a 3 bedroom semi detached bungalow with large patio at the front, side yard/covered parking and 2 verandas to the side of the house. Our landlord lives next door but we very rarely see him even when it's time to pay the rent. We usually have to go and knock several times before we find him to give him our monthly rent.

In all the time we've been here, we haven't felt the need to return to the UK at all but have taken flights off the island to other places such as Malta and Egypt plus a few mini-cruises to Lebanon and Syria. We're planning another trip to Egypt later this summer.

Go for it! And remember - do it your way

_________________
Regards
Shell

Sorry, but that's plain rubbish!

Absolute and utter rubbish

Total & utter cr*p I rent, been here 4 years and have no intention of EVER returning to live in the UK

_________________
Shirls

I can see where he is comeing from , but yes , you are right I would say on many occasions
but not all .
I am still renting here after 11 years , though we have bought land in the last 4 years ..

_________________
REACH 1000`s of PAPHOS CUSTOMERS EVERY DAY FOR A FRACTION OF WHAT THE OTHERS CHARGE
----------------------------------------------------------------
Whilst the optimist and the pessimist argued that the whisky glass was either half full
or half empty ? .
I drank it .....
The opportunist..

I bought before I moved out here, but now have a tenant in there, and I rent a property for myself. Why? Because the property I bought is not big enough for me now I am living here permanently . . . . . . so I rent a bigger place, and have just moved again. If I had to do it over again, would I buy? No - not for me, I much prefer to rent, and if I don't like the area, or the house, or anything, I can just move on again. And Alan - yes, I do intend to stay here

_________________
Jean

Retirement - harder work than working - But much more fun

I sold my Bungalow in UK and bought here in Paphos, I had a off plan villa built ( after looking around for a few years when we came over on Hol's) but I got it wrong and moved to a off plan apartment down at sea level.

When I was in the Royal Air Force for 22 years had moved around a lot and just wanted to 'settle down' in 'civvy street
Had lived in 4 houses with mum dad and brothers & sisters before I joined RAF in 1956.
From Cardington went to Bridgnorth then Weeton after training was posted to Midleton St George
Lived in ' the block'on camp till I got married in 1959 then lived in rented accommodation in Darlington, posted to Nicosia and lived in rented accomm in Ayios Dhometios and Acropolis, posted back to UK in 1963 and live in rented accom in York before having enough 'points' to live in Married quarters in Acomb, York, ( had 6 months away in single accom in St Athan Nr Cardiff for Technical course) posted to Royal Australian Air Force Base in Buterworth Malaysia in !966 and lived in Villa (rented) on Penang Island ( got the ferry each day) till posted to Singapore after only 6 months (end of confrontation with Indonesia) Lived in Far East Mansions off Orchard Rd and travelled daily to RAF Tengah. Posted back to RAF Linton on Ouse and lived in Married quarters at RAF Dishforth then back to M/Q at Acomb when was posted to Church Fenton in 1968.

Lived in Sherburn Elmet ( all rented to present)till Bought (morgage) Bungalow in Kippax Leeds
In 1970 ( I was posted unaccompanied to RAF Sharjah for a year in 1971) 1972 posted to RAF Topcliffe and travelled daily from my bungalow in Leeds. 1973 posted to RAF Gutersloh in Germany (Let my Bungalow for 6 years) Lived in Rented Accom on a German Farm for 6 years.
till I came out of the RAF In1978
Lived in my Bungalow till 2003 (which I sold within 6 weeks!! after owning it for 33 years) when I retired to Paphos in 2003

So you can see why I wanted to 'settle down'

_________________
Mal

The required income for Immigration purposes is approx 650 Euros per person.
They require this as they need you to be able to show that you will not be relient on the state of Cyprus.

regards
Paphian4761

_________________
White & Georgiou
Expatriate Services

Website & 2011 Price List
http://www.paphospeople.com/white_georgiou.html