As the prime minister said yesterday speaking at the Reimagine Tourism in Greece conference organized by Kathimerini, the new regulations for off-plan construction will be introduced for discussion and voting in Parliament immediately. Based on the jurisprudence of the Council of State, “slavery as we know it will belong to the past”.
In fact, he pointed out that these are transitional arrangements since the development of the country’s urban planning through the “Konstantinos Doxiadis” program is in full progress.
“The local spatial plans (TPS) will be ready in 2-3 years from today. With these we will be able to know the strengths of each area, its peculiarities, where and what we can build. Until then we will need some horizontal rules. It is a given that based on the decisions of the Council of Ministers, gradual restrictions will be imposed on the off-plan”, Mr. Mitsotakis emphasized.
According to what the prime minister mentioned, the restrictions on off-plan construction must be set, as there are many islands that have practically not been built, as well as settlements in general that must be protected. However, he added that “we have to give alternatives, or organized receptors, or settlements or their expansion.”
In addition, he pointed out that “there will be restrictions, because there are many islands that have practically not been built, settlements that must be protected. Of course, we must provide alternatives, or organized receptors, or in settlements or in their expansion. On an Aegean island, I prefer to “push” interested parties to acquire a holiday home in some settlement, rather than everyone building on a 4-acre plot, wherever they want, however they want”, he concluded.
It is worth noting that attempts had been made in the past to come up with regulations for off-plan construction, but they found themselves at the door of the Council of State.
As sources at eleftherostypos.gr explain, the purpose of the Ministry of Environment and Energy is the transitional regulation which – will be in force until the completion of the Local and Special Urban Development Plans – to bring the market back to normal, to get thousands out of “hostage” owners of plots of land in areas outside the building plan and to be in full compliance with the Council of State.
The chronicle
The issue that concerns thousands of owners was initially created in February 2023, after the issuance of the 176/2023 decision of the Plenary of the Council of State, which canceled the building permit for more than 4 acres outside the plan in a stadium in Patmos, creating case law, which in essence, it put an end to off-plan construction.
Following the publication of the decision and its immediate consequences, and given that the country’s planning offices have stopped issuing building permits to off-plan pitches that lack a 25-meter face on a public road, the questions from engineers and urban planners to the relevant ministry were many and on a daily basis, even asking for written instructions on what is valid and what is not for new and old building permits, after the decision of the Council of Ministers.
As a result of this, the Construction Services “freeze” in all building permits the off-plan building. Other similar decisions of the Council of State followed and attempts by the Ministry of Environment to come up with regulations to unblock the issue, however, in paragraph five of their testimony, they were put on ice.
Indeed, the last relevant decision of the Council of State put a brake on the government’s intention to legislate, giving the leeway, under conditions, to some owners of plots outside the plan to build.
Thus, the transitional provision that had been leaked in February was not included, as initially planned, in the multi-legislation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs that had been put to public consultation and passed shortly before Easter.
In particular, the transitional regulation that has seen the light of day provided for even plots outside the plan that:
– Those that were created before May 31, 1985 or from May 31, 1985 to December 31, 2003 and have a face of at least 25 meters on a street that can be seen in aerial photographs before July 27, 1977, are at least 3.5 meters wide can be built and whether it is connected to an international, national, provincial, municipal or community road or the State has been involved in its opening or maintenance.
– Construction of a house on plots of both categories (before 1985 and until 2003) will be allowed if in the area where they are located there are at least two older houses, built within a zone of 50 meters from the axis of the street.
– New housing will be allowed on plots located up to two kilometers from existing buildings in the area, which to be considered as a reference point should be legally existing. That is, either they had been erected before July 28, 2011, appeared in aerial photographs of 2011 and, if it was arbitrary, they had been legalized or built after July 28, 2011 with a building permit. Any other plot of land located beyond two kilometers, even if it meets all the other conditions (of completeness or connection to a recognized road) will not be able to be built on.
It is recalled that with the latest Decision of the Council of Ministers which froze the regulation for off-plan construction, the requirement of building on a plot facing an urban-planningly recognized street is expanded for plots located within a settlement zone on off-plan fields.
As pointed out among other things by the Decision of the five-member 5th section of the CoE chaired by Mr. Douhani and Rapporteur Ms. Theodorikakou, “although the specific property located within a settlement zone in Rhodes, resembles the plots within the settlement due to its proximity to it does not have a face on a shared public road, the zone of 500 meters from the boundaries of the settlement is an area outside the city plan, while in any case, the properties within the plan or similar to them within the settlement are required to have a face on a shared space in order to be buildable”.
Staikouras: Visits to construction sites and meetings with agencies in Crete – What did he say about BOAK
Elon Musk: He is now the biggest donor to Donald Trump – He gave 75 million dollars in favor of Republicans
Georgiadis: The free afternoon surgeries will start in mid-November – The procedure to be followed
#Offplan #construction #rightofway
