Ministry clarifies new affordable housing schemes

The interior ministry on Thursday provided a series of clarifications on two new schemes designed to boost affordable housing, announced earlier this week. The first scheme concerns the allocation of state-owned plots to families based on income criteria, with the dual objective of supporting households struggling to acquire a home while strengthening local communities. The second will allow owners of existing homes, subject to specific conditions, to construct an additional floor for children or grandchildren, even where the existing building has exhausted its permitted building density. Regarding the first scheme, the ministry said those eligible are Cypriot nationals who comprise a household. A household is defined as a couple with children, a couple without children, or single-parent families. Applicants must be under the age of 45 at the time of applying.

They must be permanently residing within the administrative boundaries of a community in which the available land plots are located, or residing at a distance of less than 15km from the boundaries of the community. Another condition is that applicants must not have registered in their name, or in the name of their parents, any land plot or parcel in a designated building zone. In addition, to be eligible, applicants and/or their parents must not have sold any immovable property three years or less prior to applying for the scheme. As far as means-testing goes, a family’s gross annual income must not exceed €45,000 for couples or single-parent families; €50,000 for a family of three persons; €55,000 for a family of four persons; and €65,000 for a family of five persons or more. The selection process will give priority consideration depending on the applicant’s place of residence, then to native-born Cypriots,…