According to Cyprus Property News, new procedures have let Cyprus register 112 rural roads since the start of the year, easing access to land that was hard to develop.
Cyprus has registered 112 rural roads since the start of the year, improving access to land that has been difficult to develop, according to Cyprus Property News, which adapted a report from Politis. Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou said the ministry has also examined 500 requests. Under the previous process, only 10 to 12 roads were registered each year. The new procedures target a long-standing obstacle: plots with no access to a registered road. Where a road exists but is not registered, the registration process can now move forward. For plots without any road access, communities can request that a new road be planned and registered as a rural road. Previously, registration depended on the consent of affected landowners, which caused delays and sometimes produced roads registered in sections that could not work as complete routes. Under the new framework, land can be compulsorily acquired where consent has not been secured, so the whole road can proceed as one project. Mr Ioannou said compensation costs are limited because valuations take into account the increase in a plot's value resulting from the road. The ministry is also piloting urban land readjustment in ten areas, with European Union funding. In this scheme, a wider area with many owners is brought together, a road network is created and land shares are redistributed among the owners. Communities have been asked to rank their requests and initially submit their two or three highest-priority roads, with the number of plots served as one of the main factors. A new guide sets out the responsibilities of the services involved and the timetable for each stage, and contact points have been appointed at District Administrations and the Department of Lands and Surveys. Mr Ioannou also outlined a draft bill on compulsory acquisitions, proposing changes to compensation, interest rates and the period for which the state can retain an acquisition. He noted that some owners have waited up to 20 years for compensation. The bill is under public consultation and will then go to the Law Office before being submitted to Parliament. This is a factual summary of the reported changes, not legal advice.