One-year extension for regularization of unauthorized buildings

The deadline for submitting declarations for the regularization of unauthorized buildings has been extended by one year, until February 8, 2016, by a decision expected to be signed today by the Deputy Minister of Environment, Energy, and Climate Change, Nikos Tagaras.

At the same time, engineers and owners are given an additional two-year extension to submit the plans accompanying the declaration of unauthorized construction. The regulation applies to all categories of unauthorized construction except for minor unauthorized construction that does not increase the volume and surface area of the building, as there are no deadlines for such cases.

According to Law 4178/2013, the deadline for submitting declarations is February 8. An earlier ministerial decision also stipulated that the plans and documents that must be submitted to complete the process of “legalizing” the unauthorized construction must be submitted within six months of submitting the regularization declaration. Now, with the ministerial decision being signed, engineers are given the opportunity to complete the electronic submission of the necessary supporting documents within two years of the (new) deadline for regularization (February 8, 2016), i.e., February 2018.

The doses

It should be noted that throughout the extension period, it is possible to pay the fine in 60 monthly installments, which is also the case today for those who submit a regularization declaration. Speaking to Ethnos, the Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy pointed out that the extension is being granted in view of the difficult economic situation we are all experiencing and to enable citizens and engineers to comply with the provisions of the law. “The progress of Law 4178 demonstrates the need to register unauthorized buildings and the acceptance of the regulations by citizens. The recent ruling by the Council of State, the reasoning for which we are awaiting, proved that there is a constitutionally correct way to resolve the problem of unauthorized buildings,” Mr. Tagaras stressed.

The leadership of the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change wishes to give interested parties the necessary time to register their unauthorized buildings, as the electronic issuance of building permits will begin in January 2015, while the implementation of electronic identification for existing buildings, which will also apply to unauthorized buildings, is expected by March, as these will be given priority. Plans and electronic identification will be necessary for property transfers, and ministry officials believe that it will take at least six months for the market to become accustomed to the new electronic tools.

Recently, especially after the news leaked that the Council of State had ruled Law 4178 constitutional, the rate of declarations submitted increased by almost 50%, reaching 500-600 per day. In total, 805,682 unauthorized or illegally constructed buildings have been declared under the two regularization laws.

In more than 490,000 cases, the fee has already been paid, while 269,036 have completed the registration process. The electronic system has issued 671,720 certificates for property transfers. Overall, the declarations of unauthorized buildings show that 75% concern buildings with a building permit and 25% concern completely unauthorized buildings without any permit.