24.10.2023
“The government’s new housing policy includes multi-level actions and measures and envisages the use of a total amount of 77 million euros over a five-year period with short-term and long-term programs,” Minister Constantinos Ioannou said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a press conference, Ioannou said the government is focusing on both short-term and long-term measures to increase housing production and ensure that houses and apartments are available on the market for rent or sale at affordable prices.
He explained that in addition to building new housing units, the ministry is offering incentives for the use of existing units so that immediate options are available.
The minister said that through the Renovate-Rent grant scheme, financial incentives are encouraged to improve the quality of existing unused housing stock, a proposal tabled by the Cyprus Chamber of Science and Technology (CET) . In the next few months, he said, this idle housing stock will enter the rental market as an attractive product.
Regarding the Built to Rent plan, he said it was also encouraging the construction of new housing units on private land, as well as a review of city planning incentives to increase the production and availability of housing units.
As the Minister noted, these measures create a very attractive package of conditions for the construction sector, allowing to offer more apartments to the market, while ensuring a minimum number of affordable housing units.
According to him, the government pays special attention to youth, young couples and families, low-income families, socially vulnerable segments of the population, without deviating from the financial capabilities of the state.
Ioannou added that the measures taken contribute to solving the housing problem of a significant number of young people under the age of 41 by providing one-time financial assistance for the construction or purchase of a first home, thereby significantly solving a serious problem faced by young people.
Through a special scheme, the Government will subsidize housing rents to provide immediate relief to a large group of citizens facing ongoing rent increases.
On rural development, he noted that the Home Office was reinstating measures such as the provision of land to low-income families to meet their housing needs based on specific criteria and to target areas where there was demonstrated need.
Ioannou said the ministry estimates there will be an immediate sale of existing plots and further development of a further 300 plots within five years. He said that since July 2019, around 1,300 beneficiaries have benefited from these plans, worth €46 million.
He also said that, in consultation with the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare, the construction of apartment buildings will be encouraged on vacant plots of land in refugee settlements in all provinces, which will be used to accommodate socio-economically vulnerable individuals and families.
He also recalled the KtiZO Plan , which is being implemented to provide safe housing to residents of 358 apartment buildings located in government settlements for displaced persons.
Ioannou noted that the private sector will make an important contribution to the implementation of these measures, and it is expected that this participation will help significantly reduce the time required to implement the project so that residential buildings can be made available to citizens faster and at affordable prices.
When asked about the thousands of borrowers who are at risk of losing their homes, as well as about the ESTIA plan and the installment rental plan, the minister said that the Ministry of Finance is dealing with these issues.
But he explained that the Interior Ministry is working to subsidize 2% of rent for families with an income of up to 50,000 euros per year who took out a loan or applied from 1 January 2022 until the end of 2023, at a cost of 40 million euros. He also said that thanks to the announced measures, the ministry expects that 5,500 new residential units will be brought to market in the next three years.
ETEK President Konstantinos Konstantis said the measures were encouraging and called for effective implementation.
