There is one number that, in my view, should change the way we discuss housing in Cyprus: 25,000 homes.
These are not homes needed over the next few years because of population growth. They represent, according to a recent detailed report by Phileleftheros journalist Charalambos Zakos, the housing supply gap Cyprus was already carrying at the end of 2024.
The report, titled When Cyprus Stopped Building – The Five Years That Damaged Housing, is based on data from the Statistical Service of Cyprus. And the figure matters.
A decade of lost housing construction
The global financial crisis, followed by Cyprus’ banking crisis in 2013, did more than cut incomes, increase unemployment and damage the banking system. It also caused a dramatic collapse in new home construction.
In 2008, 18,195 new homes were completed. By 2013, that figure had fallen to just 3,833. In 2015, it dropped again to 2,390.
Within seven years, new housing output had fallen by almost 87%. But the homes that were not built during those years did not simply disappear from today’s housing equation.
Using a conservative benchmark of 10 new residential units per 1,000 people, the Phileleftheros analysis estimates that the accumulated shortfall reached about 30,000 homes at one point.
Despite the recovery that followed, the gap was still estimated at 24,597 homes at the end of 2024.
Why the housing gap matters today
This helps explain part of the housing pressure Cyprus is facing today. The country is not simply trying to meet current demand. It is also trying to make up for a decade of lost housing production.
That creates a difficult challenge. If Cyprus needs a certain number of new homes each year just to keep pace with population growth and the creation of new households, returning to that level will not reduce the existing shortage.
It will only stop the gap from getting bigger.
To close the shortfall, housing construction needs to remain above current demand for several years. That means a sustained increase in supply, rather than a short-lived surge in building activity.
More construction, but not another property bubble
This does not mean returning to the excesses of 2007 and 2008. Cyprus does not need another property bubble.
It needs a planned and sustainable period of higher housing production. The aim should be to increase supply gradually enough to meet both new demand and the homes that were never built during the years of economic crisis.
There are encouraging signs. In 2025, building permits covered 16,171 residential units, the highest number since 2009. Momentum in building permits also remained strong in 2026.
That should be recognised. But a building permit is not the same as a completed home.
In 2024, just 8,692 homes were completed. At the same time, Cyprus’ population grew by about 8.9% between 2019 and 2024, while the housing stock increased by about 7.3%.
In other words, housing supply continued to grow more slowly than the population.
Delays are now a housing issue
This is why today’s delays matter more than we might think.
When a planning or building permit takes too long, when a project is held up by a series of procedures, or when construction, finance and land costs rise, the impact goes beyond the individual developer.
It also delays the country’s effort to address an existing housing shortage.
For that reason, we should change the way we assess housing policy. The question should not simply be: how many homes did we approve this year?
We should also ask how many additional homes were actually delivered to the market beyond those needed to meet new demand.
Cyprus needs a sustained increase in supply
That means faster and more predictable planning and building approvals. It means making more land available for development in areas where demand is strongest.
It also means incentives for Build-to-Rent and new housing, wider use of modern construction methods, and careful consideration of any new measures that increase the cost of delivering homes.
The housing crisis was not created in two years. It will not be solved in two years either.
It requires consistency, long-term planning and, above all, more homes being built than are required simply to maintain the status quo.
The previous crisis showed us what happens when a country stops building.
The mistake now would be to know the size of the gap and still fail to give the market the conditions it needs to close it.
About the author
Yiannis Misirlis is the President of the Cyprus Property Developers Association
