Homeowners will be able to construct an additional floor or extension to their existing property to house children or grandchildren under a new government scheme, the interior ministry confirmed on Thursday.

The scheme allows owners to build a new residential unit even where their property has already exhausted its permitted building density, a restriction that would normally block further construction.

Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou described the measure as “a targeted intervention which creates more opportunities for affordable housing, practically supporting families and especially the younger generation”.

The process works in one of three ways, for owners may build the new unit on an additional floor above an existing approved residence, incorporate it within the shell of the current building or as an extension to it, or construct it within any remaining free space on the plot.

Certain categories of property are excluded, such as listed buildings, individual apartments within existing apartment blocks, land within tourist zones, and sites in environmentally protected areas.

The scheme also cannot be used to legalise unauthorised structures already standing at the time of its publication.

Applicants face several conditions once a planning permit is secured, as building permit applications must follow within one year of the planning permit, or the permit lapses.

The buildable area of the new unit is capped at 150 square metres, rising to 180 square metres on plots with a net area of at least 1,000 square metres.

Where a permit is granted, a planning condition will be attached requiring the property’s title deed to be amended, restricting the sale or transfer of the extended home for ten years, except in cases of inheritance.

Any planning permit issued under the scheme remains valid for a maximum of three years.

The scheme will remain open to applications until the end of December next year, with the ministry accepting submissions to the relevant urban planning authority up to that date.

Homeowners who have already benefited from another incentive granting additional building coefficient are not eligible to apply under this scheme.

The measure can, however, be combined with other government housing initiatives, including schemes supporting young families and programmes aimed at revitalising communities in Troodos.

The announcement forms part of a broad package of housing measures the government has rolled out in recent weeks.

A separate scheme allows those under the age of 45 to acquire state-owned plots at 25 per cent of market value, subject to income limits ranging from €45,000 for couples to €65,000 for families of five or more.

Around 570 plots are expected to be distributed under that scheme in the coming period.

Ioannou said the government’s housing strategy was already producing “measurable results”, citing expedited licenses that saw 2,533 detached and semi-detached houses approved within forty working days by the end of last month, alongside 1,242 apartment blocks approved within eighty working days.

He said the changes were expected to bring homes to more than 15,000 families roughly “eighteen months earlier” than previously anticipated.