The Council of Ministers has approved support allowances for residents of mountain and remote communities in Cyprus for 2026, continuing a scheme that has run for several years.
The decision covers two separate allowances.
Altitude-based allowance
The first applies to residents of communities at an altitude of at least 600 metres. Payments per household per year are set at €175 for altitudes of 600–800 metres, €225 for 801–1,000 metres, and €260 for communities above 1,000 metres. In addition, each household member — whether a pensioner or not — receives €165 per year.
As an example, a four-person household living at between 600 and 800 metres would receive €175 as a household payment plus €165 per person, totalling €835.
Eligible applicants include Cypriot citizens and EU nationals who permanently reside — in owned or rented accommodation — in qualifying communities and can demonstrate continuous residence there for at least the past two years.
The following are not eligible: non-EU citizens, even if permanently resident in the community; EU or non-EU domestic helpers living in the applicant’s home; monasteries and monks or nuns; and persons who own holiday homes in the qualifying communities.
Distance-based allowance
The second allowance targets residents of communities located at least 40 kilometres from an urban centre, or between 30 and 39 kilometres from an urban centre at an altitude of at least 700 metres. This allowance does not apply to pensioners.
Non-pensioner adult working members of qualifying households receive €300 per year if their community is 40–59 kilometres from the nearest urban centre, or is 30–39 kilometres away at an altitude of at least 700 metres. Those living in communities 60 or more kilometres from the nearest urban centre receive €600 per year.
Tillyria exception
Residents of the Tillyria area — covering Kato Pyrgos, Pano Pyrgos, Pachyammos, Pomos, Pigenia, Agios Theodoros Tillyrias, Alevga, Mansoura, Mosfili, and Selladi tou Appi — receive a 50% increase on the above amounts under a separate Cabinet decision.
The uplift is granted on account of the area’s geographical isolation, its frontier character, and the particular conditions created by the Turkish invasion.