More than 10,000 housing units are expected to be built within three years, Interior Minister Konstantinos Ioannou said, in comments he linked to the prospect of lower property prices and rents.
Ioannou made the remarks during a meeting with members of the parliamentary Refugees Committee, covering both state housing programmes and private sector construction driven by planning incentives granted by the government.
The announcement comes against a backdrop of sustained pressure on Cyprus’s housing market. Cyprus apartment prices broke all historical records in the fourth quarter of 2025, surpassing even the peak of the 2008 property bubble, according to Central Bank data previously analysed by Phileleftheros. Separately, Department of Lands and Surveys data show the average rent for a three-bedroom apartment in Nicosia jumped from 950 euros to 1,300 euros between September 2024 and September 2025.
The minister said the government’s planning incentives — including an increase in building density of up to 45% — had generated 47 applications, translating into more than 2,500 housing units, of which 400 will be designated as affordable housing.
Under the same scheme, developers who chose not to build affordable units paid the equivalent value of the additional building density they received, channelling 17 million euros to the Housing Finance Organisation, Ioannou said. The organisation will use those funds to begin construction of 441 housing units in the coming period.
On fast-track licensing, the minister said plans for 930 apartment blocks and approximately 3,000 houses had been approved by May. Each apartment block can accommodate up to 20 apartments, making the overall numbers substantial, he said.
Taking a conservative estimate of ten apartments per block rather than 20, Ioannou said, that amounts to 9,300 apartments ready to begin construction, alongside the 3,000 houses already approved.
“The construction timeline depends on private developers, but given the level of demand, we estimate that projects will go ahead,” the minister said.
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