Filenews 13 September 2024
A new Urban Amnesty Plan is approved today by the Council of Ministers on the proposal of the Minister of Interior Konstantinos Ioannou and is a continuation of the previous Plan, which covered 3,151 buildings/units with urban planning illegalities.
The new Plan aims to enable citizens to legalize arbitrary constructions in approved developments, which concern small-scale regulatory deviations and which do not substantially affect the whole, type of development or amenities of the residents.
The proposed new "Urban Planning Amnesty Scheme" will apply only in cases of arbitrary constructions in buildings that have obtained planning permission and/or building permit by the date of this Decision of the Council of Ministers, in order to obtain Certificates of Approval and issuance of Property Titles. The Plan will last for six months from the date of approval of this proposal by the Council of Ministers, in order to ensure the possibility of citizens for immediate application actions before its expiry, while limiting the possibility of additional arbitrary constructions.
The new plan is also promoted because the previous one that was implemented on 29/07/2015, valid for four years, until 31/12/2019 and which was extended until 31/12/2023, covered/legalized premises related to 3,151 urban planning applications, a number much smaller than arbitrary constructions.
The Plan covers a wide scope (residential, industrial, office, leisure/entertainment, etc.).
It also applies to buildings that have obtained planning permission and/or building permit until the date of this decision of the Council of Ministers, for a significant increase in the number of beneficiaries.
The Plan introduces compensation payment in cases of residential development with three categories exceeding the building coefficient, as they arise within the main shell of the existing building, outside the main shell (horizontal or vertical extension), or in case an additional residential unit has been created with the implemented arbitrary construction, and introduction of an obligation to pay compensation in cases where the building factor is exceeded for others categories of development.
At the same time, an obligation to pay compensation is introduced for regulatory deviations (covered veranda / pergola, reduced distance from borders, increased coverage rate, increased height or length of auxiliary building along a common border, etc.), categorized into small scale and significant deviation, or larger.
Compensation is provided to the Special Funds of the KOAG for the Affordable Housing Scheme, at a particularly critical stage of its implementation, before the granting of planning permission, minus 10% of the required compensation, which will be deposited, before the granting of the planning permit, to the Funds of the Urban Planning Authorities (District Local Government Organizations), for the administrative burden that will arise with the implementation of the Plan.
It is noted that the market value of the building factor will be calculated on the basis of the applicable General Assessment Tables of the competent Department of Lands and Surveys, using and completing the Special Form for the Acquisition of the Excess of the Building Coefficient, while in cases of regulatory deviations from provisions of the Development Plans, a specific amount is determined for each category of deviation, depending on its scale and importance, as well as the administrative area in which the property falls (Local Plan/Area Plan, or Rural Policy Statement), using the Compensation Table.
The implementation of the Plan is also possible in cases of residential apartments in existing apartment buildings, for the purpose of legalizing constructions related to the incorporation of covered verandas or / and housing and integration of uncovered verandas in the residential unit, provided that the written consent of all co-owners is submitted with the application.
In cases where the building ratio is exceeded in residential developments, the payment of compensation is required, based on the market value, (General Assessment of the competent Department of Lands and Surveys) and the obligation to pay is differentiated as follows:
(i) Payment of compensation of 20% of the value of the excess building coefficient, in cases where the application concerns an increase in the buildable area within the shell of the originally approved building.
(ii) Payment of compensation of 25% of the value of the excess building coefficient, in cases where the application concerns an increase of the buildable area with vertical or horizontal extension, outside the shell of the originally approved building.
(iii) Payment of compensation of 30% of the value of the excess building coefficient, in cases where the application concerns an increase in the buildable area due to an arbitrarily erected additional residential unit.
In the case of a shop that obtained a planning permit and/or building permit before the date of this decision of the Council of Ministers, where an addition has been implemented by converting the mezzanine into a main use, without obtaining the required planning permission, and to facilitate small businesses to increase their living space and improve their operation, in ground floor shops of a ground floor area of up to 80 sq.m., or in ground floor shops operating as offices, the Planning Authority may approve the above conversion, regardless of its height (and less than 2.60 meters), without this area being calculated in the building coefficient, and without requiring additional parking spaces. This incentive may also be applied in cases of consolidation of shops so that they operate as a single enterprise, even if the total of the area exceeds 80 sq.m.
And retroactive effect with its extras
Based on the Plan, the Planning Authority can go a little out of bounds. Specifically, the following are provided:
> The Urban Planning Amnesty Scheme enables the Planning Authority to examine ad valorem and approve, regardless of the content of any regulatory provisions (Development Plans, Orders, etc.), and without securing the consent of the competent Local Authority, arbitrary extensions to buildings with an initial planning permit and/or building permit before the date of this Decision of the Council of Ministers, falling into two categories of regulatory divergences, limited in scale and importance of a technical nature, and more substantial divergences.
> Technical deviations include the distances of buildings from the boundaries of the plot, the distances between the main and auxiliary building, the exceeding of the coverage rate, the length of contact of auxiliary buildings at common borders, the maximum allowed height and / or the number of floors of main and auxiliary buildings, etc., exercising the discretion of the Planning Authority. It is understood that the arbitrarily implemented extensions must not alter the architecture of the building, nor affect the amenities of the residents and the environment and the physiognomy of the area.
> The amount of compensation varies according to the scale and importance of the deviation, as well as the area the property falls under (Local Plan/Area Plan, or Rural Policy Statement), based on the Table of Compensations.
