Ioannou flags housing crisis as EU priority after Greece talks

The scarcity of affordable housing across Europe is impacting social cohesion and competitiveness, Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou said on Friday, following a meeting in Nicosia with Greek Social Cohesion and Family Minister Domna Michaelides.

The two ministers discussed coordination and the exchange of best practices, with emphasis on their own strategies to expand affordable housing.

Ioannou said affordable housing was one of Cyprus’ EU presidency priorities.

“We have set specific goals, one of which is to strengthen dialogue and exchange experience and best practices,” he said.

Ioannou and Michaelides agreed to further their cooperation, so that the policies promoted are more effective and coordinated.

Michaelides said housing was a Europe-wide problem and all EU member states were making efforts to alleviate the problem.

“Cyprus, both in increasing the supply and demand for housing […] has taken very important steps”.

Referring to Greece’s housing policy, Michaelides said the government was implementing a multifaceted plan with 44 different actions and a budget of €7 billion.

Through this strategy, the government is offering mortgages with a subsidised interest rate to over 22,000 households, the return of rent to a million households and programmes to renovate and rent for 20,000 households.