Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou held bilateral meetings on housing policy issues in Geneva, on the sidelines of the UNECE Ministerial meeting on housing affordability and sustainability.
Ioannou met with Executive Secretary of UNECE, Tatiana Molcean and the Minister of Solidarity-Based Future of Slovenia, Simon Maljevac, a press release by the Ministry says.
During the meeting with the UNECE Executive Secretary they discussed ways to strengthen cooperation between Cyprus and UNECE on housing policy issues, in view of the assumption of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU.
The minister had the opportunity to present the priorities that the Government will promote in the first half of 2026 during the Cyprus EU Presidency and referred to the effort being made at national and European level to increase the housing stock.
Cyprus Minister also explained the initiative taken by the Republic and which was presented in the context of the High-Level Conference on Affordable Housing held under the Danish Presidency, namely to grant a special tax regime for the implementation of affordable housing programs.
During the meeting, the UNECE Executive Secretary highlighted the need to develop a single platform of common policy and best practices, as a tool for better coordination and addressing common challenges in the field of affordable and social housing.
Any solutions that will be put up for discussion, the UNECE Executive Secretary said, should be resilient and sustainable and take into account the environmental and energy dimensions.
In the meeting with the Slovenian Minister the agenda focused on the increase in European funding for the implementation of affordable housing programs, as a central pillar of the European Plan for Affordable Housing under development.
Ioannou and Maljevac agreed that the European Affordable Housing Plan can be the basis for the development of a European housing strategy, with targeted policies, tailored to the specific needs of the Member States.
The Minister of the Interior extended an invitation to Maljevac to participate in the Informal Ministerial Meeting to be held in Cyprus in May 2026, where the roadmap for the integration of affordable housing into the Cohesion Policy 2028-2035, as an independent thematic priority, will be defined.
The two Ministers also exchanged views on the practices implemented by the two countries at national level to manage the housing problem. Common challenges were discussed, such as AirBnBs, the increase in investment interest in the real estate sector etc., the press release by the Ministry read.
Maljevac informed the Minister about the new incentive program implemented by Slovenia, aiming to strengthen the affordable rental market, and referred to the actions implemented in Cyprus, through the Cyprus Land Development Corporation, to increase affordable housing options, mainly to cover socio-economically vulnerable groups of the population.
