Apartment permits jump 86% as construction speeds up

Economy housingHousing crisispropertiesTop News Apartment permits jump 86% as construction speeds up Apartment Permits Jump 86% As Construction Speeds Up Relevant News Apartment permits jump 86% as construction speeds up 13 August 2026 Remedica recall leaves seven medicines with no available alternative 13 August 2026 Orounta fire contained after crews battle blaze near homes (photos) 13 August 2026 Angelos Angelodimou 13 August 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber Authorities issued permits for 5,184 apartment units in the first four months of 2026, up 85.9% from 2,789 in the same period last year, according to the Statistical Service. Building permits overall reached 2,915 between January and April, against 2,157 a year earlier, a rise of 35.1%. Their combined value climbed 46.1% and their total area 45.5%, while the number of residential units rose 65%. In April alone, authorities issued 639 permits, 10.7% more than in the same month of 2025. Those permits carried a combined value of 413 million euros, covered 335,300 square metres and provide for 1,728 residential units. Houses lag well behind flats Mixed-use apartment blocks accounted for 291 units in the first four months, against 162 a year earlier, a rise of 79.6%. Detached and semi-detached houses grew far more slowly. Detached house units reached 1,237 against 1,003, up 23.3%, while semi-detached units came to 419 against 367, up 14.2%. Groundwork points to more building ahead Permits for plot division, one of the first stages in putting up new homes, rose to 270 in the first four months from 157 a year earlier, an increase of 72%. Road construction permits climbed to 66 from 20, a rise of 230%. Market professionals have repeatedly pointed to limited property supply combined with strong demand as the main factor behind rising prices. Large numbers of foreigners arriving to work and study, together with stronger domestic demand, have created a new situation. The government is pursuing the same goal through the affordable housing scheme, with units being developed by the Cyprus Land Development Corporation (CLDC/KOAG). ETEK urges compact, multi-centred cities ETEK completed and published its Strategic Planning of Local Plans report in January 2026, covering Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca and Paphos. Local plans set out development policy for the cities over the coming years and will shape the direction the construction sector takes. The chamber, the state’s statutory technical adviser, calls for a shift to compact, multi-centred cities with a clear hierarchy of centres, sub-centres and neighbourhood centres, along with defined development axes and regeneration areas. It wants a sharper distinction between morphological identity and land use, stronger mixed use, and higher densities concentrated in areas with adequate infrastructure and access or the reverse, avoiding horizontal expansion onto new land. Housing development and urban regeneration run through the report as central themes, with the emphasis moving away from expansion towards activating and upgrading existing building stock, and particular attention to affordable housing. ETEK calls for planning incentives to be combined with financial and administrative tools, and for faster procedures on reuse and upgrade projects. It also presses for neighbourhood speed limits, school streets, complete streets and a redistribution of road space, measures it links to road safety, public health and how the city works day to day. The challenges differ between cities, ETEK said, from fragmentation and heat build-up in Nicosia to unplanned and linear development in Limassol, incompatible land uses and environmentally sensitive zones in Larnaca, and the need to balance tourism against everyday life in Paphos. It proposed five-year packages of interventions for each city, with clear implementation tools and measurable indicators. Employers flag labour shortage OEB Director General Michalis Antoniou said construction has always been one of the engines of the economy and one of the pillars supporting a return to growth whenever crisis or recession sets in. The permit figures show property remains attractive to investors, both Cypriot and foreign, he said. High growth rates in the sector are adding to the supply of residential units and should bring at least partial relief to the housing problem, Antoniou said. He identified securing workers as the sector’s central problem, saying “the labour force that exists in Cyprus is not enough” to meet the need. KEBE Secretary General Philokypros Rousounides called the rise in permits a positive sign for the economy, saying it “proves its resilience once again” through crises and geopolitical tensions. The increase shows the construction industry continues to operate and remains on a path of recovery and growth, he said, with development prospects for the country and positive indications for the wider economy. Rousounides identified cutting bureaucracy and strengthening the digital transition, in private business and in the state machinery alike, as a major challenge for construction and other sectors, making particular reference to licensing procedures. 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