The Ministry of the Interior postpones in the long term the mandatory inspection of buildings recommended by ETEK, due to the risks that exist for the collapse of buildings or parts of them, preferring in the first phase the inspection of buildings of public use.
At the same time, the ministry calls on the EOAs to forget their request for financial support totalling €20 million. (in the form of a loan) to undertake the support of hundreds of buildings that were deemed dangerous after inspection and offers them only €2 million.
The issue of the non-implementation of ETEK's recommendation for regular inspection of buildings in order to prevent failure of balconies, walls, etc., arises from a letter from the Minister of the Interior dated November 4 to the Parliamentary Committee on the Interior.
Specifically, the letter states: The Ministry has already proceeded with the elaboration of a legislative proposal for the periodic inspection, with the aim of a system of controlled and gradual implementation in categories of buildings that will be selected based on objective criteria of risk and importance. The political direction of the Minister is for the regulation not to impose indiscriminate periodic inspection of citizens' homes, but to focus, in the first stage, on high-traffic areas involving buildings of public use.
In light of the above, it is considered more appropriate to promote the issue of periodic inspection as a distinct and integrated legislative initiative, in order to comprehensively regulate the scope, the categories of buildings, the responsibilities of those involved, the methodology, the frequency of inspections, compliance and enforcement and the required transitional provisions."
The issue was raised during a discussion of the "Regulation of Roads and Buildings Law of 2026 with the representative of the Ministry of the Interior, Mr. Loizos Hatzvassiliou, stating that the promoted bill will bring order to the issue of the handling of dangerous buildings, taking into account that each of the authorities involved (before the EOAs took over) acted as they wished, without applying a single policy.
Regarding the issue of the recovery of the money paid by the EOAs to support dangerous buildings, he said that a survey found that the Municipalities (predecessors of the EOAs and the District Officers) recovered about 50%.
He also said that it must be understood that we are talking about support and not restoration of the risk, so the amount of €2 million. that the Ministry intends to give their EOA, is considered satisfactory, although a partial revision of it can be discussed.
He also suggested that EOAs should exhaust all measures to convince owners to support their dangerous buildings and only when this is impossible to intervene, because, among other things, this practice may encourage owners not to implement the support measures, as they should, on the grounds that, in any case, will be implemented by the relevant EOA.
On behalf of the EOAs, Mr. Parmaklis stated that the deficit for each EOA will be around €1.5 million and this money will be drawn from water supply and irrigation, given that there are no receipts from the support sector for dangerous buildings.
We are asking for €2 million. for each of the next ten years so that we can respond, he said, adding that the EOAs are not asking to be given the €20 million but to be given in the form of a loan, until they start collecting from the owners the cost of supporting the buildings.
Mr. Chatzivassiliou noted that the amount of €20 million. required by the EOAs is enormous, stressing that the responsibility to support dangerous buildings lies with their owners and not with the NGOs.
The chairman of the Interior Committee, Mr. Aristos Damianou, described the gap between the EOA and the ministry as huge and stressed the need to find the golden mean on an issue that also concerns the safety of citizens.
Speaking on behalf of ETEK, Ms. Lydia Mina stressed the need to include a provision in the bill for regular inspection of buildings, through which any static problems will be identified in time and repaired before the buildings become dangerous.
