New Range of UK Style Mortgages to be Expanded

The range of UK - style mortgages being offered to British and Irish citizens interested in buying property in North Cyprus is set to be expanded.

British company Lewis Finance says the scheme, which is already receiving a lot of interest from expats and people looking to buy holiday homes on the island, will grow to include "TMD" property- given to Turkish settlers - from June.

The 70 per cent mortgages being offered already cover both pre - 1974 Turkish title deed land and "esdeger" or exchange land and homes.

James Budd, the North Cyprus representative for Lewis Finance, said: "Nothing has been confirmed yet. As more mortgages go through the system we are able to make improvements.

"We are already getting a lot of applications through. Unfortunately many people who have been told that they couldn't get mortgages in North Cyprus previously don't keep looking for them.

We are trying to get all the estate agents and construction companies who are offering the mortgages to highlight what we are doing on their websites.

The mortgages, being backed by several of Turkey's largest banks, start from £26,000 and run from five to 15 years.

With the holiday season starting more people will be coming over who may want to buy out here, we want to make sure they know that they can get a mortgage. There are many reasons why North Cyprus is particularly attractive to people buying either a second or first home. The current difficulty being faced by a considerable percentage of new home owners, thanks to a tightening of belts by bank managers due to the global credit crunch, really highlight the benefits of North Cyprus's property market. As has recently been reported in many newspapers in the UK, the region offers a great investment opportunity as house prices in the north are expected to rise with a conclusion to the Cyprus problem.

In addition, the property market is currently defined by off-plan property as supply is still out pacing demand. This means that people whose money would stretch only a little way in the UK are presented with the opportunity to customise their very own property in climate far more dependable that their own.

In the past Cyprus has often been characterised as a daunting place to buy property due to an image of the island property economy being run upon cash, meaning that a substantial cash down payment was required for would be buyers to secure their home.

Nowadays there are banks, estate agents and developers all providing the financial assistance so important for home owners, whether domestic or foreign.

The implementation of these UK-style loans for British and Irish citizens shows that the market is now at a comfortable level of maturity.

Having said that, the market totally differs from the UK and Ireland's as the country's extremely active property development sector means that supply is currently outstripping demand. This obviously favours buying off-plan, and the financial assistance which comes with a British or Irish mortgages means that the region now represents a very favourable location for potential buyers.