It is estimated that there are around 15,000 part finished houses in the TRNC.
This number comes from Zihni Turkan, head of the Architects Association. He estimates that these empty homes could have been worth TL 750 million to the nation.
The housing industry peaked in 2004 with the potential sign up to the Annan Plan, since then it has been in decline. There are many developments which have been built as speculation and have not found buyers.
Given the generally poor quality of construction, these empty shells have deteriorated badly.
Mr Turkan feels that the current building activity is inappropriate. He says that most new builds are around Kyrenia and Famagusta. However there is limited new demand there. Instead, most of the demand is coming from Nicosia, from the ever increasing population as well as students studying at its two universities.
A significant proportion of new buildings are not being inspected, as required by law because builders do not want to pay the required fees. Instead they are obtaining permits without inspection. This has led to a decrease in build quality.
