Nicosia to use casino cash for housing

Cyprus will channel 15% of its new casino’s revenue, as soon as it becomes operational, to the Cyprus Land Development Corporation (CLDC) for the promotion of its housing policy projects, the island’s government decided on Wednesday.

President Nicos Anastasiades chaired the meeting at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia on the issue of housing policy which reached the above decision, according to government spokesperson Marios Pelekanos.

CLDC, whose budget for 2022 will rise to 11.6 million euros from about €3 million in 2021, plans to build more than 800 housing units in the coming years, which will be allocated either through the affordable housing plan or through the new affordable rent plan for economically vulnerable households.

According to Pelekanos, the overall expenditure for the implementation of the housing policy was also discussed during the meeting, which was also attended by the ministers of finance, interior, labor, energy, trade and industry, the deputy minister for welfare and other officials. As noted in the spokesperson’s statement, it amounts to a total of €125 million, double the expenditure of 2018 and 22.4% higher than 2021.