On Wednesday 15th January the Cyprus Statistical Service published new data on the number of building permits issued in the island state.
According to the authority's report, the number of permits fell by 83.9% to 97 in July 2024, compared to 604 in the same month of 2023. These licences had a total value of 42.9 million euros and a total surface area of 28.3 thousand m2. A total of 156 residential units will be built under these permits.
The main reason for this trend is the transfer of powers to the new regional local government organisations (EOA). In addition, problems with the new integrated information system Hippodamus also played an important role in the noticeable decrease in the volume of building permits issued in July. This caused a significant delay in the processing of applications.
These shortcomings and weaknesses continue to this day, causing considerable difficulties and delays in the compilation of statistics on building permits issued,' the Cyprus Statistical Service stressed.
For its part, 4,879 building permits were issued in Cyprus in January-July 2024, compared to 4,212 in the corresponding period of the previous year.
This represents an increase of 15.8%. The total value of these permits increased by 24.4 per cent, while the total floor area increased by 26.4 per cent and the number of residential units by 24.7 per cent. On a year-on-year basis, an increase in the area of licensed projects was recorded in all towns of Cyprus in January-July 2024. In the free areas of Famagusta, the figure rose by 291.4 per cent, in Paphos by 44.3 per cent, in Larnaca by 72.4 per cent, in Nicosia by 3.3 per cent and in Limassol by 9.9 per cent.
It should be remembered that building permits are a leading indicator of future activity in the construction sector. On this basis, it can be concluded that the volume of construction in Cyprus is declining.