Rental and other agreements, ready for what comes next.

Most agreements we coordinate exist because something else depends on them: a residence application, a bank file, a permit.

• Someone renting a home in Cyprus. Your rental agreement is the proof of address for the yellow slip, the Digital Nomad Visa, the bank and the utility companies.
• A company taking an office. The Business Facilitation Unit route needs a lease of at least 12 months in the company's name, in premises separate from any home, and banks look for a real office when they ask about substance.
• Co-founders. Two or more owners who want a shareholders' agreement that says what happens between them, written before it is needed.
• A company hiring. Employment contracts, including the two-year contract that a residence and employment permit application relies on.
• A tenant sent a lease to sign. You want it read by our partner advocate before you sign, with the points that matter explained in plain English.

A few rules decide what a rental agreement in Cyprus needs, and two of them changed in 2026.

• No more stamp duty. Stamp duty was abolished from 1 January 2026, so a lease signed from that date is not stamped. A lease signed by at least one party by 31 December 2025 still falls under the old rules.
• What the Migration Department asks for. Its published checklists for the yellow slip and the Digital Nomad Visa still ask for a stamped lease, or a title deed, with a utility bill. Until they are updated, we confirm what the department accepts for a lease signed from 2026 before your appointment.
• Rent is paid electronically. Since 1 July 2026, rent may be paid only by bank transfer, card or another recognised electronic payment, not in cash. Write the payment method into the agreement.
• Rent control is narrow. The Rent Control Law covers homes and shops in declared controlled areas that were completed by 31 December 1999. It does not cover furnished lets of under six months or holiday lets.
• Long leases. A lease of more than 15 years creates a right in the property only if it is registered at the Land Registry. For a buyer from outside the EU, a lease of more than 33 years counts as a purchase and needs the same permission.

More detail: stamp duty, stamped leases for residence applications, the Rent Control Law.

Agreements are drafted, and their terms explained, by our partner advocate, a practising advocate registered with the Cyprus Bar Association. We do everything around the drafting: we collect what the advocate needs, keep the drafts moving between you and the other side, arrange the signatures and put the signed agreement to use wherever it is needed next.

We are not a law firm and do not give legal advice. Where a question is about your rights under an agreement, the advocate answers it.

The exact list depends on the agreement and is sent to you at step 2, "We ask you what we need". For a lease that will be used in an application, these are usually needed.

• Both parties' details: the owner's and the tenant's names, ID or passport numbers, the tenant's Migration Department registration number (ARC) where there is one, and contact numbers. The department's checklists ask for these in the rental document.
• The terms: the property, the rent, the term, the deposit, who pays which bills, how either side can end it, and the payment method, which since 1 July 2026 must be electronic.
• For a residence application: the landlord's and tenant's signatures certified by a certifying officer, the rent receipts and an original utility bill in the tenant's name. The checklists still ask for a stamped lease; we confirm what is accepted for a lease signed from 2026.
• For an office lease on the Business Facilitation Unit route: at least 12 months, in the company's name, in premises separate from any home. A sublease or shared-space agreement is accepted if it carries the full details and addresses of all parties.
• For a review: the draft you were sent, as the other side sent it.

• Paying rent in cash. Since 1 July 2026 rent may be paid only by bank transfer, card or another recognised electronic payment. Write the method into the agreement and keep the records; they are also your evidence of the tenancy.
• Stamping a 2026 lease, or expecting one to be stamped. Stamp duty was abolished from 1 January 2026, so a lease signed from then is not stamped. The Migration Department's checklists still say "stamped"; we confirm what the department accepts before your appointment.
• Relying on an older lease that was never stamped. A lease signed by at least one party by 31 December 2025 falls under the old rules. Ask before you use it in an application.
• A lease the Migration Department cannot use. Its checklists want the owner's and tenant's names, ID and registration numbers and contact numbers in the document, the signatures certified by a certifying officer, and a utility bill in the tenant's name. We check the lease against the list before the appointment.
• An office lease that does not fit the route. The Business Facilitation Unit needs at least 12 months, in premises separate from any home. A shorter lease, or a desk at home, does not count.
• Assuming the Rent Control Law protects you. It covers only homes and shops in declared controlled areas completed by 31 December 1999. For most newer flats, the agreement itself sets the terms.