Government rejects state funding for joint building oversight service

Nicosia, Cyprus. The government will not provide state funding for a proposed system to oversee management committees in jointly owned buildings, Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou told parliament.

The legislation is due to return to the House interior committee later on Tuesday.

EOA funding request

District local government organisations (EOAs) requested funding to cover the cost of assuming the new responsibility. Ioannou rejected the request, saying the organisations should finance the service through their existing budgets.

“State funding is not provided for the exercise of this responsibility,” he said.

Proposed oversight powers

The government proposes transferring oversight to the EOAs rather than retaining it with the land department, whose current remit remains limited.

Under the proposed law, local authorities would receive expanded powers to supervise management committees and address issues including unpaid communal fees, inadequate maintenance, lack of insurance and failures to establish committees.

Staffing and software

Ioannou said initial costs and staffing needs should be limited. The service is expected eventually to become self-financing through fees collected by the EOAs.

Additional staff will be needed, with a land department study already identifying staffing requirements for each EOA. Requests for new posts could be included in preparations for next year’s budget, Ioannou said.

The state will fund the software platform required to operate the new system.