Committee approves €16.83m budget for Turkish Cypriot Properties Fund

The €16.83 million budget for the Turkish Cypriot Properties Fund was approved by the Greek Cypriot House of Representatives’ Refugees Committee. The meeting, which considered the budget, also addressed problems faced by Greek Cypriot refugees in relation to housing.

According to Haravgi, at its meeting on 6 November the committee discussed the budget as well as the situation of refugees waiting for their homes to be repaired. Key issues raised included rent increases, delays to repairs and bureaucratic hold-ups.

Homes awaiting repairs and rent increases

The report said some Greek Cypriot refugees had been waiting for more than a year for their homes to be repaired. During this period, the state had increased rents, while refugees were also facing bureaucratic delays. As a result, the wait for housing maintenance and the rise in rental costs were both among the issues discussed at the meeting.

Nikos Kettiros, chair of the Greek Cypriot House of Representatives’ Refugees Committee, also voiced criticism of the process for allocating Turkish Cypriot properties. Kettiros said there were problems with the allocation process and criticised the rent increases.

Allocation process also discussed

In addition to approving the budget, the committee’s discussions focused on the administrative procedures governing the use of the properties. Kettiros’s remarks highlighted the allocation process and rent increases, while the problems reported by refugees centred on waiting for home repairs to be completed and bureaucratic delays.

The source report gave no details of the approved budget’s spending items or a timetable for work on homes awaiting repairs. It also provided no information on the scale of the rent increases.