A significant increase in the number of urban planning and building permits issued by the Famagusta Urban Planning Authority was recorded in 2026, according to the Authority’s President, Yiannis Karousos. Speaking on the “Alpha News” program, he noted that September was a record month for permit issuance, while he also announced new transparency tools so that citizens can track the priority status of their applications.
As he explained, the licensing process begins with the urban planning permit, followed by the building permit. Referring to the performance of the Famagusta EOA, he noted that by September 2026, the Authority had already exceeded by approximately 15% the total number of permits issued in all of 2025. “We are up 40% compared to all of 2025 in terms of building permits, and we have covered approximately 92% of the zoning permits we issued in 2025,” he said, referring to a “significant improvement.”
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Mr. Karousos argued that, in general, the Local Planning Authorities are now issuing more urban planning and building permits than they did prior to the Local Government Reform. At the Famagusta EOA, he said, a decision has been made to review all applications strictly in chronological order, depending on the type of development and the geographic area.
According to him, when an application is complete and no additional opinions are required from other government departments, the permit can be issued within approximately 70 business days. He clarified, however, that in cases where opinions from agencies outside the EEA are required, delays may occur that are beyond the Agency’s control.
He placed particular emphasis on the transparency of the process. As he noted, the EEA already publishes information on the status of permits, and soon, citizens will be able to enter their application number on the Agency’s website to find out its exact priority ranking. “Know when your application will be reviewed,” he said, explaining that the goal is to dispel suspicions that certain applications may be fast-tracked.
Only specific cases will be exempt from this strict chronological order, such as public works projects or matters related to protection concerns, which may be reviewed more quickly. Finally, Mr. Karousos stated that he has asked the Minister of the Interior to incorporate this specific procedure into the relevant decree, while he is also preparing a proposal to codify it into law, so that all EOA offices are required to provide such information to citizens.
