Cyprus building permits up 11.6% in the first half

Civil engineering booms, hotels out of favour

The number of building permits authorised rose by 11% year on year to reach 837 in June and provided for 1,739 dwelling units.

For the first six months as a whole, building permits rose by 11.6% compared with the same period of 2005. Their value lagged slightly, rising by 9.5% in Jan-June, while the area rose by 5.6% in the same period.

Civil engineering soars

A breakdown of figures from the Statistical Service show that the fastest-growing category—in terms of number, value and area—was authorisations for civil engineering projects.

In January-June 2006 the number of civil engineering projects authorised rose by 42.6% compared with January-June 2005. The area of these project rose by 63.7% and the value rose by 53.7%.

This since roadbuilding is counted separately, it presumably cannot relates to all that road-digging going on around Limassol and Larnaca, though it may be related.

Hotels out of favour

The figures also show the growing importance of non-hotel types of tourist accommodation.

While the number of non-residential buildings authorised rose by 13% in the first half of the year, the number of hotels authorised within that category fell by 44%.

Instead, we see tourist apartments and villages up 150% and “other tourist accommodation” up 100%. F.M.