The illegalities found in buildings under construction are not only affected by the buyers of units in apartment buildings and those who erect their own building or even the designers, but there is also an issue with the banks that lend the projects, in the sense that they are in danger of being left hanging.
This applies in the event that they grant loans for the purchase of housing units and eventually the permits issued are revoked, in which case the projects will either be cancelled or there will be a delay in their implementation.
As "F" is informed, after the cancellations of licenses by the EOAs, the Association of Banks sent a letter to the Organization asking for information on the fluid situation surrounding the issue. Things seem to be complicated especially in cases of serious illegalities which, if the legislation is complied with, the affected buildings under promotion will never be legalized or will wait for one of the future urban planning amnesties to be legalized even with footnotes on the title deeds.
"F" is informed that the biggest problem exists in Nicosia and Limassol, where according to people who are in a position to know, a large percentage of applications are problematic, some to a greater extent and others to a lesser extent.
What seems to be the case with regard to the examination of applications is the conduct of the so-called "executive inspection", i.e. an "on paper" inspection, without some NGOs giving the same weight to the on-site inspection, during which it will be determined whether the one that was designed and licensed is being built or whether the situation on the ground is different and therefore illegal.
The problem with the control is even greater if we take into account that the institution of "building inspectors" (who would theoretically check the legality of the buildings, separated from the EOA officials) has not worked.
It is noted that the building inspectors were put forward as the "substitute" for the control exercised by the urban planning authorities and were used as one of the arguments for the abolition of the urban planning permit and the building permit.
The president of ETEK, Constantinos Constantis, commenting on the findings of the EOA Nicosia, which were presented yesterday by "F" and based on which 54% of building permits show substantial deviations/irregularities, including exceedances of development factors (due to incorrect calculations), malfunctions of parking spaces, reduced distances from the borders of the plots, resulting in the adverse impact on the comforts of residents, etc. and the revocation of licenses, in a written statement he also states the following:
– "The regulation on accelerated licensing, which concerns low- and medium-risk developments, has been based on a number of main pillars to ensure compliance with the legislation on the one hand and the rapid licensing of these developments on the other.
A key aspect of the regulation is the conduct of an executive control of the applications by the NGOs, i.e. a rapid and summary check, without detailed measurements, on key parameters of the proposed development that may affect the comforts of the neighbours.
It is precisely for this reason that the automatic issuance of certificates/permits for these buildings takes place at the end of 20 working days for low-risk developments and at the end of 40 working days for medium-risk developments (up to a four-storey house, up to 12 houses in a row, four-storey apartment buildings with up to 20 apartments and 1 basement – under conditions).
This time should be used by the NGOs to carry out an executive check on the applications. Unfortunately, we observe that, although the executive control is explicitly provided for in the relevant decrees, it is not carried out by the licensing authorities.
– With regard to the points in the applications where deviations from the provisions of the current legislation were identified by the EOA of Nicosia, ETEK will examine these issues and inform its members about the points that need attention when submitting applications. In any case, the Chamber notes the need for a radical revision of certain provisions of the current legislation, which need to be reviewed and simplified."
Besides, on the occasion of yesterday's publication of "F", the EOA of Nicosia issued a statement announcing that it will recommend to the Ministry of Interior the establishment of a Special Technocratic Committee, which will function as a secondary pan-Cypriot body for the examination of possible revocations, in the context of user administration and equal treatment of all designers/applicants.
