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29th March 2024
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Limassol high rents protest

ON SATURDAY an unofficial group ‘Limassol for All’ staged a protest outside the Limassol District Administration office on Anexartisias Street against the high rents in the city.

The protest, which was formed by a call to action on Facebook, was attended by hundreds of mainly young people carrying banners and slogans against rents for homes and apartments, which have increased in the region of 25 percent in less than two years.

The main culprit, they claim, is attempts to attract foreign capital to the city though residential developments targeted at high net worth investors, which has resulted in a more expensive housing market. Plans for the city have not been discussed with local residents.

Addressing the protestors one of the organisers said “The high rents aren’t because landlords woke up one day and decided to bleed the people dry. They are the result of a short-sighted and extremely aggressive policy to attract foreign money to solve the problems of the big local players.”

One of the protestors said that “Many residents are worried about the imminent changes to the city but feel helpless to do anything about them. Our purpose is to break the wall of silence.”

Members of the group made it clear that their purpose was not to force landlords to lower their rents “they have their right to a free market”, but what needs to change is the attitude of estate agents so they do not over-value properties by calling it “growth”.

The organisers said that what is happening today is forcing young people to leave the city as they cannot afford the high rents and property prices.

The ‘Limassol for All’ team plans to organise discussions and workshops and cultural events to attract more people to the cause.

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2 COMMENTS

  1. Nice to see Limassol spearheading, very little was built from 2011 – 2016 due to the property slump, and with the Marina built / towers / Casino offer very little affordable housing, not mentioning the 100+ FX companies based in Limassol, this for sure has brought many workers who need homes to rent, has pushed up rental prices as demand is high. I really cant see prices coming down.

  2. As Residents of Limassol and as Owners we have watched Property Values in this fine City accelerate very quickly over the last 12 months. But it does concern us that seemingly with very little planning or discussion with the fibre of its Residents that there is virtually no discussion, consultation with Limassol Residents. Especially re the huge rise in Rents in the city, we sympathise with those who are students or relatively low-income families who cannot possibly afford the Massive increases (in some cases Up from €300 p.c.m to €1,000 p.c.m. Simple fact as things stand is that many tenants will have to move out of the City, affecting jobs, schools and other factors.)

    Yes, it all seems to be driven by attractive Cyprus Government deals to encourage mainly non-Europeans to invest in high-rise, high-cost properties, which many believe will only be used in 2-3 months each year, leading to huge vacuums, lack of year-round spending, maintenance even.

    And None of this approached via Consultation, Communication even with those Limassol citizens, many of whom wonder where it may end – massive construction boom, over-supply, even with the highly ambitious Casino about shortly to open its first tentative doors ahead of another potential Boom, which may – or may NOT materialise. It all seems very High RISK and without any consultation with residents, existing investors, traffic-flows, impacts on existing businesses, support systems for those down near the bottom of Limassol housing ladders, education establishments, student accommodations and the like.

    What we see seems to be the ‘norm’ in Cyprus – and tends to create >>Bust – ‘hopefully it won’t” BUT – the RISK seems very high!

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