THE GOVERNMENT yesterday announced a housing plan aimed to help low income and large families acquire their own home.
Speaking at a news conference yesterday, Interior Minister Christodoulos Christodoulou conceded that since independence in 1960, government housing policies had gradually become more “citizen-oriented”, but had failed to address the needs of people who could not acquire their own home without generous financial help from the state.
The new plan would cover those with an annual income up to £10,000, and large families with an income up to £12,000.
The help given to the needy would be twofold, the minister said.
First there would be a grant from the state, then long-term loans with very low interest rates.
The implementation of the plan has been assigned to the Cyprus Land Development Organisation (KOAG), which has already been allocated £6 million to start with.
The plan would also cover single-parent families, engaged couples, and people with special needs.
The grants vary depending on the size of the house.
For one bedroom it would be £5,000, got two bedrooms £7,000, and £8,500 for three.
Loan interest would be set at three per cent for up to 25 years.
Christodoulou said that in the case of large families the income bracket was higher -£12,000 – but families would get a larger subsidy, with a top-up to the grant given to normal low-income families, depending on the case.
The same rule applies for families with special needs, Christodoulou said.
He added that the details of the plan would be published by KOAG, who will begin with the construction of 200 housing units every year.
The construction will be preceded by an announcement for those interested to apply to the organisation for approval.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
