The Famagusta local district administration (EOA Famagusta) announced this week that the examination of planning and building applications increased by 144 per cent in September, compared to the corresponding period last year.

In a written statement, Yiannis Karousos, EOA Famagusta president, said that “the continuous improvement in the efficiency of the organisation regarding the examination of planning and building applications is reflected in the data of recent months.”

He stated that 193 applications were completed in September, compared to 79 during the corresponding period last year, marking a 144 per cent increase.

Karousos added that 206 applications were completed in October, which is about 20 per cent more than in October 2024.

Karousos pointed out that “EOA Famagusta has achieved substantial progress and is clearly in a better position than last year, however, it has work ahead of it until it reaches the desired result”.

To support this improvement, a director of licensing was appointed, and the recruitment of 25 technical staff and officers was completed.

He confirmed that an additional 15 recruitments will be finalised by early January 2026, ensuring full staffing at all levels of the licensing process.

EOA Famagusta, Karousos said in his statement, “is in a transitional stage of reorganisation and from the new year will implement a new operational model for examining applications, which is expected to increase productivity and significantly improve the quality of service to citizens”.