S. Paradias: Fines – 400% increase for unauthorized construction from 2011 onwards

Owners of unauthorized properties built since 2011 will be required to pay a fine of up to four times the objective value of the property!

The bill being put to a vote in Parliament tightens penalties for both the construction of unauthorized buildings after 2011 and the illegal “maintenance” of unauthorized buildings.

Specifically the fine for erecting an unauthorized structure is increased from one third of the value zone of the property to 100% and the annual penalty for retention at 50% (from 5% today).

In other words, for an unauthorized construction in 2011, the fine is set at 400% of the objective value. That is, 100% for the construction and 300% for the 6-year maintenance (50% X 6 years).

And as explained on Capital TV by the president of POMIDA, Mr. Stratos Paradias, the owner of the specific arbitrary has two options: either to demolish it or to continue to pay fines as there is no provision for any possibility of legalizing any unauthorized construction from 2011 and after

Engineers who have illegally declared or will declare property under the regulation in order to legalize it will have their professional license temporarily or permanently revoked.

Furthermore, as Mr. Paradias points out, this particular bill:

1. It treats property owners as permanent suspects of carrying out unauthorized construction or unauthorized changes of use. Its provisions not only require all buildings in the country to be inspected by private engineers in order to obtain an “electronic building identity,” but also require mandatory re-inspection every five years! Owners are required to undergo “unprovoked and uninvited visits and endless recordings and inspections.”

2. It affects property rentals with the provision prohibiting the drafting of lease agreements for properties with urban planning irregularities. “Any owner who does not like their tenant, or any tenant who does not like their rental property, will be able to claim that there is arbitrariness, real or imagined, with the former being able to evict the tenant, and the latter to stop paying rent, etc.”