Nicosia - Post Report Question and Answers
What is your housing like? What are typical housing sizes, locations, and commute times for expatriates?
The embassy housing pool includes apartments and houses. Both may be multi-floor. Houses tend occupy almost all of the land they stand on, with postage-stamp backyards. Driveways tend to be the width of the car (car door opening seems not to have been taken into account). Houses tend to be modern in appearance and are universally constructed of poured concrete around ceramic, brick or cement blocks within a rebar frame. Most are painted light colors, white or pastels, in and out. Almost all have rooftop solar water heaters. Photovoltaic panels are becoming more common, but not on embassy housing as far as I am aware. Many houses have a bit of greenery around them, often a fruit tree or two. Almost all the lawns here are astroturf. As for commute times, the furthest points on the island are only about three hours apart, so how bad could the commute get? The embassy is in the direction of the downtown area, but not in the dense, old, narrow part of the city. From the most outlying housing, the commute is about 15 minutes when school is out, and 30 minutes at worst (construction, accidents, etc.). - Aug 2022
Singles and those without children will most likely be housed in 2-3 bedroom apartments close (within walking distance) to the embassy. Those with families tend to live in the suburbs (Strovolos), which is about a 15-20 minute drive to the embassy. The homes in the suburbs are spacious with yards and I believe every house comes with a fireplace. Overall commute is easy no matter where you're housed. Housing here seems to be really nice! - Aug 2022
Varied -- some are apartments for singles, some are houses for families. All have HARD floors (concrete or tile). - Jul 2013
Single-family home with some exceptions. The 10-miles commute takes about 30 minutes. - Jun 2011
Very good. I lived in one of the many spacious apartments located close to Embassy and my commute time was less than 5 minutes walking distance. However, many families wind up in big houses a bit outside of town. Construction standards are generally very good. All homes/apartments have some outdoor space. - Dec 2009
Good housing. Big houses with yards or terraces. If you live in an apartment they usually have big terraces too. Outdoor living is popular here. - May 2008
