By T. Igoumenidi
A proposed draft bill slated for public debate will reportedly feature reduced fines and penalties for owners of illegally built structures that want to register and legalize their property.
Illegally built structures in Greece mostly means properties that serve as primary residences outside of town planning zones and numerous holiday homes, ranging from multistory villas with pools to shabby dwellings topped with corrugated galvanized sheets. The decades-old provision for building outside town planning zones in Greece was construction on a unified plot of land exceeding 4,000 square meters in size.
The draft bill, with the slightly Orwellian sounding title of “Law for the Control and Protection of the Constructed Environment”, will be unveiled on Sept. 22.
Discounts for several categories of social groups are also envisioned, as well as an expansion in the types of illegally built structures that qualify for legalization.
The upcoming legislation will mark the fifth attempt since 2009 to try and deal with a scourge that has plagued Greece for almost a half century, namely, a mushrooming of unlicensed and illegally erected buildings outside of town planning zones. More than two million such structures are estimated to exist in the country, a problem directly related to and exacerbated by the fact that Eurozone member-state Greece still lacks a unified and functional land registry (cadastre).
The draft bill will also be chocked full of new procedures for construction and building licensing.
In a bid to force owners of such real estate to legalize their property, while boosting public revenue in the process, a prohibition on the connection of such buildings with sewerage lines, the power grid, natgas supply and telecoms networks will again feature prominently in the bill.
