Interior ministry plan allows extra floor or extension of up to 150 sq m, even where building limits already reached, as part of wider housing push
Cyprus has launched a new scheme allowing homeowners to build an additional storey or extension on their existing property specifically to house family members, as part of the government’s broader push to widen access to affordable housing.
Under the scheme, announced by the Ministry of Interior, owners of existing homes will, under certain conditions, be permitted to add a floor, extend within or beyond the existing footprint of their house, or build within free space on their plot, even in cases where the site’s building density allowance has already been exhausted.
Interior Minister Konstantinos Ioannou described the initiative as a targeted, socially-minded intervention that creates more options for decent, affordable housing and provides concrete support for families, particularly younger generations. Officials said the scheme was designed to make use of housing assets families already own, reducing the need to search for a new home and easing the financial burden of construction, while also making fuller use of the country’s existing housing stock.
The new unit created under the scheme can measure up to 150 square metres, rising to 180 square metres on plots of at least 1,000 square metres. Where it is not possible to provide the required parking spaces for the new unit, applicants will be able to use a “buy-out” mechanism instead. Any planning permit issued under the scheme will be valid for no more than three years, and the new housing unit cannot be sold or transferred for ten years, except through inheritance.
The scheme applies across Cyprus in towns and villages where residential development is otherwise permitted, but excludes listed buildings and areas of special character, flats in existing apartment blocks or units within existing integrated residential developments, plots outside development boundaries, land in tourist zones, environmentally sensitive areas, protected landscapes, nature conservation areas and controlled archaeological zones. It cannot be used to legalise unauthorised structures that already exist, nor can it be combined with other schemes that grant additional building density allowances.
The scheme will run until 31 December 2027 and can be combined with other government housing initiatives, including those run by the Service for the Care and Rehabilitation of Displaced Persons and schemes aimed at regenerating mountain, border and rural areas. Applications must be submitted to the relevant planning authority by the scheme’s expiry date.
