The Cabinet approved on Wednesday a plan to provide urban incentives for the demolition of old and dangerous buildings.

According to Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou, in statements following the Cabinet meeting, the new plan aims to replace old and statically unsafe buildings located in urban and rural areas with new and modern constructions.

Mr. Ioannou noted that this initiative arose recently during a meeting between the President of the Republic and the business community, and "was taken into account, and two weeks later we proceeded with this decision."

The Cabinet, he added, considered the deterioration and structural instability of old buildings in various regions of Cyprus, which were constructed under previous licensing regulations allowing higher development coefficients.

He explained that the incentive concerns maintaining the approved building coefficient of existing buildings, in cases where it exceeds the permissible limit under the current Development Plan.

Specific conditions have been set for the utilization of this incentive, he noted, such as buildings being over 35 years old and lacking structural adequacy. The incentive will apply to applications submitted within five years from the date of publication of the Decision, or for those applications submitted for the construction of new developments following the demolition of old/dangerous buildings.

"The Ministry of Interior primarily aims to enhance citizens' sense of security and to aesthetically improve and upgrade the image of cities and rural areas," said Mr. Ioannou.

Asked about it, the Minister mentioned that the decision was a result of requests from individuals as well as the business community, aiming to proceed with the demolition of old buildings and construct new ones with a higher coefficient that was applicable when they were originally built. For example, if initially seven floors were permitted but with current regulations fewer floors are allowed, these buildings remained dormant and dangerous.

"With this decision, interested parties can demolish them and maintain the previous building coefficient, thus enabling them to rebuild with the previous building coefficient," he said, noting that this serves as an incentive for interested parties to resolve structural issues and upgrade the areas.