The Central Agency for Equal Burden Sharing will be offering loans to refugees and people with properties in the north of the island that are inaccessible.
In particular, people who benefit from this will be able to apply for loans for kitchen renovations, energy modernisation of their homes and installation of photovoltaic systems on their roofs.
Just to flag up, the relevant bill was drafted by the Parliamentary Committee for Refugees. According to the idea, the state will provide significant financial assistance to the resettled. First of all, the new law is aimed at meeting the needs of low-income segments of the population. In particular, beneficiaries will be able to apply for three types of loans:
- The first one is for a loan to renovate your kitchen (including buying appliances) from €3,000 to €10,000.
- The second one is for a loan to modernise your home's energy efficiency. The maximum loan amount in this case is fifteen thousand euros.
- Thirdly, we can help you install photovoltaic systems on your roof. The maximum loan amount is five thousand.
It might take up to a year to process these applications.
Other initiatives in the pipeline are still being discussed but will be approved soon. One of these is to extend the period of subsidising the interest rate by the Agency from 20 to 30 years for a loan of up to 200 thousand euros.
Just to remind you, the Central Agency for Equitable Burden Sharing was set up in 1989 to make sure that the Turkish invasion and occupation were shared out fairly and to help people get back to paying as much as they did before the war. It gave money to Cypriots who had been forced to leave their homes to help them with housing, education, medical care and business.