Cyprus Has No Official Estimate of How Many Homes It Needs, Even as Building Permits Surge

According to Cyprus Property News, the Interior Minister, Konstantinos Ioannou, told Famagusta MP Litsa Drousiotou that it is not possible to establish a reliable number of additional homes needed to close the gap between supply and demand. He pointed to shifting demand driven by economic conditions, investment, job creation and the arrival of businesses, workers and families from abroad. The publication's analysis argues that this leaves developers guessing about the scale, location and type of housing required, and gives the public no clear yardstick for judging whether policy is working. The permit figures are rising. Building permits increased by 19.5% in 2025, while the number of planned residential units rose by 42.7%. In the first five months of 2026, permits were up 32.1% and planned homes by 63.7%. The ministry says this shows construction activity is picking up, but accepts it does not mean the supply-and-demand gap has been closed. Larger schemes can take up to two years to secure planning approval, so the market may have shifted by the time homes are completed. The government points to planning incentives and its Build-to-Rent scheme, which offer extra building density in return for more housing, including affordable homes. The latest figures suggest these measures could support more than 4,000 homes over the next two years, about 1,400 of them for the affordable market. Cyprus Property News stresses, however, that this is potential output rather than completed housing. The ministry blames the deterioration in affordability since 2022 on inflation, higher construction costs and stronger demand, including population growth and the arrival of people displaced from Ukraine. It says continued growth in supply alongside stable demand could gradually rebalance the market, but it cannot say how much construction is needed or when the effect would be felt.