By Konstantinos Giorkatzis
- President of the Nicosia District Local Government Organization.
It is often suggested—sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly but with obvious insinuations—that the District Self-Government Organizations, two years after the reform was implemented, have not achieved the desired level of performance in the area of licensing. The data, however, do not support this claim. On the contrary, official data from the Statistical Service paint a particularly positive and encouraging picture.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Specifically, with regard to the Nicosia District Planning and Building Authority, in 2025 it issued a total of 3,170 building permits, a figure that represents one of the highest figures of the past decade and reflects the significant progress achieved just one and a half years after it began operations. Furthermore, on a Cyprus-wide scale, the first quarter of 2026 saw a 44.1% increase in the number of permits issued compared to the corresponding first quarter of 2025. A steady upward trend is also evident in the issuance of urban planning permits, a fact that confirms the overall improvement in licensing activity.
The same positive picture is reflected in the data from the Development Licensing Directorate of the Nicosia EOA. In July 2024—the Agency’s first month of operation—177 zoning permits and 39 building permits were issued. Two years later, in June 2026, 544 zoning permits and 986 building permits were issued. Additionally, during the period from August 1, 2025, through July 31, 2026, 4,956 valid urban planning permits and 8,151 valid building permits, along with related requests (such as certified copies, permit extensions, etc.) were submitted. A total of 5,854 urban planning permits and 11,253 building permits were issued. This represents a permit issuance rate of 118% for urban planning permits and 138% for building permits. This means that the Nicosia Planning and Building Authority now issues more permits than the number of applications it receives, thereby reducing the backlog from the past.
Problems and Dysfunctions
The above performance becomes even more significant when one considers the circumstances under which the five EOA were called upon to assume the role of the dozens of licensing authorities that existed prior to the reform:
Have, for example, these circumstances been factored into the assessment of the alleged delays?
- The degree of difficulty involved in creating a new agency and an entirely new department, by merging 12 different urban planning and building authorities, which had operated for decades using very different methodologies and work cultures?
- That, based on the procedures prescribed by law for the approval of organizational structures, budgets, and recruitment announcements, the earliest the Directorate’s staffing could be completed was in two years?
- The serious problems and malfunctions of the “Ippodamos” computer system, which we received without a transitional or trial period (pilot phase), which had numerous operational issues and was particularly slow, at least for the first 12 months?
- The decision to transfer thousands of pending applications—many of which were problematic—to the Regional Employment Offices (EOA), which was a last-minute decision made without any planning?
- The fact that the Provisional Coordinating Councils did not receive the necessary financial support to set up office space, procure the required equipment, and so on?
- The burden placed on the licensing departments of the EOA by various new government plans, which were announced during the most difficult and vulnerable period for the new organizations, such as, for example, the “Photovoltaics for All” initiative?
The Need to Complete the Reform of Development Licensing
At the same time, the reform of the development permitting process has not been completed. Fundamental obligations on the part of the state remain pending; once implemented, these will significantly facilitate the work and, by extension, the performance of the licensing authorities.
These are as follows:
- Upgrading the Hippodamos software.
- Integration of all consultations into the Hippodamos software; unfortunately, to date—and despite instructions and announcements to the contrary—most departments within the relevant ministries that are required to conduct consultations during the permitting process do not use the software.
- Integration of all tasks/procedures currently performed outside the Hippodamos software into the computerized system.
- Digitization of the physical files of existing permits, and
- Consolidation of the permitting process for listed buildings under the Department of Urban Planning and Housing (TPO).
Greater Transparency
The Nicosia District Local Government Organization recently launched a new statistics page on Development Permitting in the district (https://ndlgo.org.cy/monthlypermitsresults/). In this way, we are enhancing transparency and providing comprehensive and accurate information on the progress of the permitting process in the district, with detailed and up-to-date data on submitted applications, permits issued, expedited permit applications, as well as other permit-related requests processed by the Agency.
Transparency and the assessment of the progress of the licensing process should be standard practice for all licensing authorities, including the Department of Urban Planning and Housing. Reform is a collective endeavor, and achieving its goals requires the publication of comparable and reliable data by all stakeholders.
