Overseas private investors and homebuyers are to be given a rare chance to buy Cuban real estate in a move that marks a further loosening of the economic constraints imposed on the island since Fidel Castro seized power 50 years ago.

Cuba is set to offer investors the chance to buy an apartment in an exclusive beach resort on the north coast. The leasehold will initially be for 75 years, although the resort's developer hopes to be able to convert it into a freehold.