Filenews 2 June 2025 - by Angelos Nicolaou
The Minister of the Interior addressed an urgent appeal to the Parliamentary Committee on the Interior for the immediate promotion of the bill on urban land reclamation, in a letter to the Chairman of the Committee.
As it warns, a possible delay in the passage of the legislation could lead to a heavy financial penalty against the Republic of Cyprus, with the fine estimated at between €30 and €60 million.
The controversial bill, submitted to Parliament since December 2023, remains stagnant despite its initial debate on January 23, 2025.
The Minister underlines that the vote is a milestone for the implementation of the reform included in the Recovery and Resilience Plan, which is co-financed by the European Union.
The deadline for legislative completion expires in June, while by December 10 pilot urban land reclamation projects must have progressed.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, the delay in the adoption of the legislative framework undermines the conditions for the release of EU funds, jeopardizing the country's ability to absorb European funding.
The bill introduces a new urban planning tool that seeks the sustainable utilization of development zones, through the consolidation, redistribution and utilization of real estate in degraded areas.
The aim is to create organised, functional and environmentally sustainable urban areas, while addressing issues such as urban sprawl, pressures for new expansion, and the absence of basic infrastructure.
The Minister points out that the Ministry of the Interior is at the disposal of the Committee to provide clarifications and support for the parliamentary process, in order to ensure the timely adoption of the legislation and to avoid serious economic and institutional consequences for the state.
What does the bill provide?
The new legal framework aims to create an integrated mechanism for the management, redistribution and reorganization of real estate within urban areas.
The aim is to create land suitable for development, to provide spaces for public utility, as well as to rehabilitate areas that have been affected by natural or man-made disasters.
According to the introductory report, the need to introduce urban land reclamation arises mainly due to the under-exploitation of property in urban areas and the pressures for reckless expansion of development zones – a practice that causes serious impacts on the environment, biodiversity and urban infrastructure.
With the implementation of the new legislative framework, emphasis is placed on the adoption of a more coherent and rational urban planning, based on the model of compact development model of compact development and limiting the pressures of defining additional development zones.
Urban land reclamation contributes, among other things, to solving environmental issues, limiting urban sprawl, tackling the effects of climate change, ensuring uniform organised public spaces, meeting housing needs and increasing the supply of land in dimensions, shape and size depending on the intended use.
Urban land reclamation will be activated in three ways: a) either by application of the owners, b) or by majority consent of the owners and approval by the local authority, c) or by decision of the Council of Ministers.
The process includes a series of stages, from the consultation and preparation of an urban plan, to the construction of the necessary infrastructure and the issuance of new title deeds.
The supervision of each project will be assigned to a special Urban Land Reclamation Committee, while the implementation is undertaken by the local authority or other public law organization, with the aim of managing the project, the execution of the infrastructure and the management of the finances of the relevant cooperative.
