# Moving to paphos



## Yorky1949 (Dec 13, 2013)

I am a uk citizen who lived in nicosia 1991 to 1994 but lived in USA for last twenty years now retired any info regarding cost of living and how safe is it to live as a single senior lady my funds would be in usd.


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## 5Stingray5 (Dec 21, 2012)

Yorky1949 said:


> I am a uk citizen who lived in nicosia 1991 to 1994 but lived in USA for last twenty years now retired any info regarding cost of living and how safe is it to live as a single senior lady my funds would be in usd.


The cost of living in Cyprus is not as cheap as it used to be, if you intend to rent then take your time as there are loads of rentals available (the same applies to sales, only buy if title deeds are available). Once again don't be hurried by smooth talk.
If you do rent don't sign until you've had the rental agreement looked over by a solicitor. You will usually be asked for one months rental in advance which you'll be lucky to get back if you leave.


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

Most of us agree that the cost of living here is about the same as the UK, I cannot speak for the US. Of course your costs will vary a lot if you ignore the excellent local produce and purchase lots of imported goods particularly in food.

Although crime has increased here it remains a relatively crime free place to live. I suspect that most problems occur in the centre of the main towns rather than the villages but I have not heard of any area where it is suggested that it would not be safe to walk at night.

You state that your funds are in US dollars. You will of course have to change these into Euros unless you insist on only using US credit cards in which case you will lose lots of dollars in poor exchange rates and fees. Best to have you money available in a US bank account and use a specialist exchange company such as Currency Fair to bring in Euros to a Cyprus bank account. This way you can keep the minimum amount for living in your Cyprus bank account if you are concerned about the banks here.

Final point: I am told that if you rent and decide to leave the rental then you do not pay the final months rent after giving notice in which case you do not have to worry about retrieving the month in advance you may have paid.

Pete


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## 5Stingray5 (Dec 21, 2012)

The reason people started withholding the final months rent was because on many occasions the landlord/lady would claim that damage etc had occurred and that is why they were refusing to refund the deposit to pay for the so called damage.


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## Blondieashton (Apr 8, 2012)

We are moving over next year and have found that yes some costs like food and electric costs are the same but as a couple there are some things that are greatly cheaper in cyprus.Rent being one of them this is less than half of what we pay in uk which is also getting worse also council tax, in cyprus what we pay in one year ie €150 we pay this every month for a small place in the uk. 

We cant wait to move over


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## 5Stingray5 (Dec 21, 2012)

I think that much depends where you live in the UK as to how things compare in Cyprus, we found that the average price for renting a bungalow/house in Cyprus was 600/700 euros PCM (cheaper for apartments/town houses).
Where I live in the UK our son pays £550 PCM (650 euros) for a 3 bed semi, flats on a nearby complex £400/425 PCM (470 euros).
Depending on where you're coming from in the UK houses can no longer automatically be cheaper in Cyprus as they were some ten years ago. At this moment in time houses in Cyprus are about equal to where I live in the UK, my 3 bed semi is currently valued at190 euros whereas ten years ago Cyprus property was approx. 30% cheaper than my UK location.
Electricity can be expensive in Cyprus if you're using air con and swimming pool filtration system along with the air con used for heating in the winter. we were paying 92 euros PCM for electric alone whereas in the UK our combined gas and electric was107 euros PCM, we also brought low energy bulbs with us from the UK. LPG central heating is also expensive in Cyprus.


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## Cleo Shahateet (Feb 23, 2009)

Yorky1949 said:


> I am a uk citizen who lived in nicosia 1991 to 1994 but lived in USA for last twenty years now retired any info regarding cost of living and how safe is it to live as a single senior lady my funds would be in usd.


Rent is cheaper than the US, but everything else is the same or more (much more) unless you live in LA, Manhattan or somewhere similar. You would be safe, but like anywhere I would use the same precautions you use in the US such as locking doors, cars, locking up valuables, not walking alone at night etc. Where in the US are you moving from and what part of Cyprus are you thinking about moving back to?


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