Hundreds of elderly residents with reduced mobility and serious health problems face daily struggles in government housing, as many apartment blocks lack lifts. Simple tasks, such as carrying shopping up several flights of stairs, have become major challenges. Many are effectively trapped in their own homes, relying entirely on their children or on neighbours for assistance.
The prolonged hardship shows no end in sight. The Ministry of the Interior has shifted responsibility for the absence of lifts onto ground-floor residents, who, due to illegal extensions they have constructed, refuse to allow the installation of external lifts. As a result, older residents remain effectively imprisoned in their apartments.
Grants for lifts
Under the government’s Ktizo scheme, the Ministry of the Interior is providing €300,000 to refugee residents of government housing for general repairs and renovations, and an additional €90,000 specifically for lift installation. However, work can only begin if all property owners in a building give their consent.
The grant scheme forms part of the state’s broader housing policy, which also addresses the structural and seismic integrity of 358 existing apartment blocks in government housing estates.
Renovation and reinforcement works are carried out by the private construction sector. Builders benefit not only from government funding and contributions from residents, but also from a special incentive in the form of additional development rights, which they can use either on the same project or elsewhere. The scheme aims to ensure sustainable financing of the overall works.
Illegal extensions
In approximately 70 government housing blocks where lift installation is considered necessary, progress is blocked due to illegal extensions by ground-floor residents. Many have appropriated shared spaces, adding pergolas, garages, or extra rooms. To avoid demolition, they refuse to consent to external lifts, which would significantly improve daily life for all residents.
Without unanimous consent from all co-owners, no improvement works or lifts can be installed.
Even the otherwise sound policy of granting property titles to refugee residents has inadvertently created an obstacle: as legal owners, these residents are under no obligation to agree to lift installations, effectively holding other residents and particularly elderly or mobility-impaired residents 'hostage'.
Ministry shifts blame
Responding to a question from DISY MP Rita Superman during the presentation of the 2026 budget, Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou stressed that the Ktizo scheme provides both financial support and technical expertise to eligible refugee residents.
He added that the speed of repairs, renovations, and lift installations depends entirely on the co-operation of property owners. “Where there is no agreement among residents, delays cannot be blamed on the Ministry,” Ioannou said.
Dependent on their children
One resident’s experience highlights the severity of the problem. Mrs Loukia, 70, recently underwent surgery on both legs. Her block in a Nicosia government estate has no lift. For the first three months of her recovery, she had to stay at her daughter’s home, and for another month in a nursing home, despite not wanting to, to avoid burdening her children financially. She could only return home once she had regained full mobility.
Stories like Mrs Loukia’s are repeated across dozens of government housing blocks.
Solution needed
The state must ensure that residents - particularly elderly people with mobility and health issues - can move safely and independently within their homes. Continuing the current situation limits autonomy and increases social exclusion.
Following local government reforms, responsibility for illegal building extensions now lies with the District Local Authorities. It is their duty to enforce the law, address illegal extensions, and remove obstacles preventing lift installation.
Removing these barriers would pave the way for installing lifts, substantially improving the quality of life for residents who currently face daily hardship.