Interior ministry clarifies eligibility for affordable housing schemes

Nicosia, Cyprus. The interior ministry on Thursday issued clarifications on two new affordable housing schemes announced earlier this week. One scheme concerns the allocation of state-owned plots to eligible households, while the other would allow certain homeowners to add a floor for children or grandchildren.

State-owned plot scheme

The plot allocation scheme is intended to support households facing difficulties in acquiring a home and to strengthen local communities.

Eligible applicants must be Cypriot nationals forming a household, defined as couples with or without children and single-parent families. Applicants must be under 45 when applying.

They must permanently reside within the administrative boundaries of the community where available plots are located, or live less than 15 kilometres from the community’s boundaries.

Applicants must not have a plot or parcel of land in a designated building zone registered in their own name or in the name of their parents. Applicants and/or their parents must also not have sold immovable property within three years before applying.

Income limits and priorities

Gross annual household income must not exceed €45,000 for couples or single-parent families, €50,000 for three-person households, €55,000 for four-person households and €65,000 for households of five or more people.

Priority will be determined by an applicant’s place of residence, followed by consideration for native-born Cypriots, displaced persons and repatriated persons. Where applicants receive the same priority score based on residence, larger families with four or more children will be given preference.

Plot price and additional costs

State-owned plots will be offered at 25 per cent of their market value. The price will not cover subdivision costs, including infrastructure works such as roads and connections to water and electricity networks.

Additional-floor scheme

The second scheme would allow owners of existing homes, subject to specific conditions, to build an additional floor for their children or grandchildren, including where the existing building has exhausted its permitted building density.