Abandoned, unsafe and heritage buildings across Cyprus are threatening public safety, undermining property values and holding back urban regeneration, with Cyprus Real Estate Agents Registration Council president Marinos Kineyirou, urging the government and local authorities to act before further tragedies occur.
Kineyirou identified 3 categories of dangerous buildings that require different responses, warning that inadequate oversight, owners’ failure to maintain properties and lengthy restoration procedures are allowing the problem to persist.
“We are watching the situation with abandoned and dangerous buildings with great concern and anxiety,” he said, stressing that public safety must take precedence over aesthetic considerations and the visual pollution affecting towns and villages.
“In such an important matter, we cannot afford to act like Epimetheus,” Kineyirou said, referring to the figure in Greek mythology who recognises a mistake only after the damage has been done.
“We must think ahead and take preventive action to protect society before disaster strikes, rather than looking for solutions and those responsible after the event, when it is already too late,” he added, pointing to the fatal building collapse in Limassol as an example of the consequences of failing to act in time.
Drawing on his experience in the property market, Kineyirou said the first category comprised abandoned private buildings whose owners had failed to decide whether to use, sell or redevelop them, leaving the properties to deteriorate.
He said the most worrying aspect was the lack of meaningful oversight, with intervention by the competent authorities often amounting to little more than placing a sign on a building declaring it dangerous.
“A sign, however, does not prevent a collapse or protect passers-by,” he said.
Such buildings can be found even in central urban areas frequented by residents and tourists, as well as in communities that attract substantial numbers of visitors.
Kineyirou singled out tourists as particularly vulnerable because people visiting a foreign country are unlikely to know the local risks or notice warnings about unsafe buildings.
The second category, which he described as potentially the most serious aspect of the problem, comprises dangerous buildings that remain occupied.
These are privately owned properties with obvious structural or other defects whose owners refuse or neglect to carry out maintenance and repairs while continuing to rent them out and collect their income.
Kineyirou also highlighted cases in which apartments in dangerous buildings are offered to tourists through short-term rental arrangements.
“Tolerating this practice amounts to exposing human lives to immediate danger in the name of profit,” he warned.
The third category concerns listed heritage buildings, which he said are becoming trapped in bureaucracy and left standing until they collapse.
Cyprus has a valuable architectural heritage that risks being lost permanently, Kineyirou said, even in cases where owners or investors have both the resources and the willingness to restore historic properties.
He attributed the delays to complicated and time-consuming procedures for obtaining permits from the Department of Antiquities and the Conservation Branch of the Department of Town Planning and Housing.
“The result is that many listed buildings collapse before their applications have even been examined,” he said.
At the same time, he argued that the financial incentives available for restoration were insufficient to make the necessary work viable, leaving properties vulnerable even where there was a willingness to invest in their preservation.
Dangerous buildings also carry an economic cost, beyond the immediate threat to human life, Kineyirou said.
Derelict and structurally unsafe properties remove a significant number of potential homes from the housing market at a time when housing affordability is a major concern for society.
Their deterioration also damages the appearance of towns and neighbourhoods, creating an impression of decline that can depress the value of nearby, well-maintained properties.
This, in turn, discourages investors, prospective buyers and tenants, weakening the prospects for urban renewal and economic activity.
“Our cities need vitality and development, but dangerous buildings stand in their way,” Kineyirou said.
He stressed that the protection of people must remain the overriding priority, arguing that property ownership brings responsibilities as well as rights.
“It is unacceptable for properties to be abandoned at the expense of the safety of society as a whole,” he said.
Kineyirou called on the state and local authorities to “take responsibility for addressing the problem rather than limiting their efforts to recording the number and condition of dangerous buildings”.
As property-sector professionals, he said, the council “would support those prepared to take preventive action promptly and decisively“.
The objective, he added, should be “to protect people, preserve the urban environment and safeguard property values before authorities are forced to deal with further tragedies”.