The Imperio Group recently handed over a cheque worth €1,980,450 to the Cyprus Land Development Corporation (Koag) during a formal ceremony.
According to an announcement released on Monday, the €1,980,450 payment, made on March 24, represents a financial compensation set by the Planning Authority for the licensing of a residential development undertaken by the group.
The development was approved under the framework of the Special Housing Incentive Scheme for Affordable Housing Production, which allows for enhanced development rights.
The payment is described as a tangible and measurable contribution to state efforts aimed at ensuring adequate and affordable housing for all segments of the population.
“Through the payment of financial compensation to Koag of this scale, real opportunities are created for young people, couples and families to acquire their own home,” said Imperio Group founder and chairman Yiannis Misirlis.
“For us, this is particularly important, because access to housing is a key pillar of sustainable development,” Misirlis added.
He also stated that public and private sector cooperation is a decisive factor in addressing the housing crisis, adding that the payment confirms that solutions with measurable outcomes can be achieved.
“The participation in the Special Housing Incentive Scheme is a strategic choice with substantial development and social impact,” said Imperio CEO Nicholas Ayiomamitis.
“We contribute to the creation of affordable housing while at the same time strengthening our projects,” Ayiomamitis continued.
“Through cooperation between the private and public sector, the stock of affordable housing increases,” he added.
“I feel particular satisfaction that Imperio confirms in practice its role as a responsible developer, actively supporting efforts to address the housing problem affecting our society,” Ayiomamitis said.
Accepting the payment, Koag chairman Thiseas Ioannou thanked the Imperio Group for its trust in the potential of the scheme.
“The utilisation of the significant amount of financial compensation paid today will be guided by the strategic objective of strengthening affordable housing, so that the Special Housing Incentive Scheme becomes a tangible benefit for citizens, which is also the goal of the New Housing Policy as shaped and announced by the Interior Minister,” Ioannou said.
Koag director general Eleni Symeonidou also expressed thanks to the Imperio Group and the Interior Minister.
“The Special Housing Incentive Scheme is founded on the synergy between the state and the private sector, which is not simply useful and desirable but constitutes the driving force that accelerates the implementation of housing solutions offered by the New Housing Policy,” Symeonidou said.
“When the capabilities of the state meet the speed and expertise of the private sector, the goal of affordable housing ceases to be theoretical and becomes entirely achievable,” she added.
The Special Housing Incentive Scheme was first introduced in 2019 and has since undergone successive revisions and improvements.
These updates were initiated by the Interior Ministry and the Department of Town Planning and Housing to strengthen the affordable housing production mechanism under the New Housing Policy.
“Its targeted provisions make it attractive to property developers, contributing decisively to the immediate increase of available housing stock,” the announcement mentioned.
“At the same time, the scheme boosts Koag’s resources for the production of affordable housing,” it added.
