Over 1,200 Turkish Cypriot properties leased to non-refugees

A total of 1,262 Turkish Cypriot properties in the government-controlled areas are leased to those who do not have refugee status, according to interior ministry figures reported on Tuesday. The data, which the ministry sent to parliament, shows that 6 per cent of the 20,994 active lease contracts on Turkish Cypriot property are held outside the refugee community. The figures were supplied after questions from Direct Democracy MP Demetris Souglis. The largest group is made up of 384 holiday homes, while another 284 contracts are for permanent residences used by the owner. Non-refugees also lease 140 business premises, 230 open plots intended for construction and 224 plots of agricultural land. The ministry said the leases date from earlier legislation, which allowed for ‘exceptional approvals’. It said the 284 permanent residences were granted to non-refugees mainly for humanitarian reasons. Each approval was given by the Guardian, the official responsible for the property, using discretion the law allowed, to support people shown to belong to vulnerable groups. The same category also includes contracts with Turkish Cypriot beneficiaries and leases to local government authorities for public benefit purposes. The ministry could not say how many leaseholders are in financial difficulty, and that no data exists that would allow vulnerable beneficiaries to be recorded and presented by category. Under the old rules, vulnerability was not defined in law and was not a separate test for approving an application. It is therefore unknown how many of the 18,304 refugee leaseholders, or of the 1,262 non-refugees, face serious financial problems. The rules changed last year when legislation introduced that summer removed new applications from the discretion of the authorities and replaced it with an objective scoring system. Points are now awarded for financial situation, annual gross family income, family make-up, the number of dependent children, single parenthood and the presence of people with disabilities. The state says the aim is to make sure properties go to those who most need support. The scoring system applies to new concessions, and the ministry’s figures do not clarify whether existing leases will be reviewed under the new criteria.