Press Releases

Reduction of 30,9% in the Number of Building Permits Issued

The Statistical Service announces that the number of building permits authorised during September 2024 stood at 423 compared to 612 in September 2023. The total value of these permits reached €160,5 million and the total area 129,1 thousand square metres. These building permits provide for the construction of 706 dwelling units. 

During the period January-September 2024, 5.485 building permits were issued compared to 5.274 in the corresponding period of the previous year, recording an increase of 4,0%. The total value of these permits increased by 8,9% and the total area by 10,6%. The number of dwelling units recorded an increase of 10,0%. 

The noteworthy decrease in the number of building permits issued in September 2024 is to a large extent the result of the transfer as from the 1^st July 2024 of the authority of issuing building permits from the municipalities and the district administration offices to the newly founded Local Government Organisations (LGOs) and the problems encountered in the operation of the new integrated information system “Ippodamos”.

Methodological Information 

Scope and Coverage

The purpose is the collection of basic data concerning residential and non-residential buildings as well as other construction activities, such as civil engineering projects, division of plots and road construction by district (both urban and rural areas). For each type of project, information is compiled on the number of permits authorised, the area and the value of the project, and the number of dwelling units that are expected to be built. For the categorisation of the various construction projects, the European Union (EU) Classification of Types of Construction (CC) is being used. 

Data cover all building permits authorised, including those for demolitions and permits being re-issued. However, permits renewals and permits for the division of buildings are not included. 

Data Collection

The Statistical Service traditionally received on a monthly basis from all the local administration authorities, namely the municipalities, the district administration offices of the Ministry of Interior and the Agios Tychonas Community Board, copies of all the building permits they issued. The information contained in these forms was appropriately coded by the Statistical Service in order to produce the statistics. 

As part of the administrative reform, the authority of issuing building permits was transferred as from the 1st July 2024 from the local administration authorities to the newly founded Local Government Organisations (LGOs). At the same time, the integrated information system “Ippodamos” was put into operation and all applications are now processed by the LGOs electronically, including a large volume of older applications that were apparently submitted in printed form before the 1st July 2024. The operation of “Ippodamos” was accompanied by a series of technical and procedural weaknesses and delays that had a serious impact on the production of statistics in a timely, accurate and reliable manner. 

The Statistical Service is in touch with the Ministry of the Interior and the LGOs, as well as with the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, in order to find ways to improve the recording by the LGOs of the necessary data in the “Ippodamos” system, so as to continue the uninterrupted production of statistics. 

For more information, visit CYSTAT Portal, subtheme Construction, CYSTAT-DB (Online Database), Predefined Tables (Excel) or contact Mr Achilleas Moustakas at 22602156 or via email amoustakas@cystat.mof.gov.cy. 

The Predefined Tables, available in Excel format, include data up to December 2022. Data from January 2023 onwards are available only in the CYSTAT-DB Online Database. 

(GS/NZ)