THE CABINET has approved guidelines for an Interior Ministry housing policy aimed at reducing rural depopulation, a ministry official confirmed yesterday.
Speaking to the Cyprus Mail yesterday, Rea Kourtelli said the ministry had prepared final criteria and proposals that would see the introduction of rural development schemes and state subsidy to people with special needs.
“The cabinet has approved guidelines, but although there’s nothing final at the moment we are examining the final proposal criteria,” she said.
“One of our aims is to stop rural depopulation. We have two aims really, one has to do with district development and the other with the social issue like aid to the poor, the elderly and people with special needs.”
Kourtelli said the first aim was to look at the various communities living in villages and away from urban areas, basing their study on the population, age distribution, distance and elevation from urban areas, in order to come up with incentives to help people settle in villages and stop depopulation.
“One of the schemes that have already been put in effect has to do with loans to people wanting to build their first house in villages with a population of under 200 people,” she said.
“They could be eligible for a loan of up to £18,000 and a grant of up to £8,000 depending on their case, but we have also come up with schemes that would encourage people to buy houses near the buffer zone,” she added.
Kourtelli said the ministry’s other aim was to include in the government’s housing policy people with special needs, i.e. the disabled, young couples, groups of the population that fall into the grey zone of housing schemes (people with low incomes, the elderly, and people who are made homeless for any reason.)
She said that existing rent subsidy plans would be examined, and the authorities would construct housing units that would be given to those eligible, who would also be entitled to increased subsidies and low interest rate payment of their loans.
“We are continuously studying the issue and we will be taking our ideas and proposals to the cabinet for approval within the next year,” she said.
Other schemes include the distribution of state property to poor families, based on their income, encouraging young couples to settle in communities close to the buffer zone in co-operation with the Housing Loan Organisation, a housing policy for agricultural areas that would cover 200 communities island-wide, a large family housing scheme, and a state rent subsidy for low income families.
Anyone interested in applying for the schemes should call the Interior Ministry on 22-867627.
