The town planning amnesty plan prepared by the Town Planning Department, based on the instructions of Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou, will pave the way for thousands of stranded buyers to legalize their properties by securing final approval and then title deeds.
The legalization of thousands of properties for which, today, title deeds cannot be secured due to urban pollution, the new urban amnesty aims. The relevant proposal was completed a few 24 hours ago at the Ministry of the Interior and unexpectedly, it is expected to be submitted for approval before the Council of Ministers meeting tomorrow Friday.
According to information from "P", the new urban planning amnesty will be implemented immediately after its approval by the Council of Ministers, as its implementation does not require any amendment to the existing legislation to require the submission of a relevant bill to Parliament. The planning amnesty will be implemented for six months.
As we have been told, competently, the urban planning amnesty will only concern small-scale illegalities and the message must not in any way get across that any urban planning and building illegalities, sooner or later, are legalized with amnesties.
The stranded buyers
Two categories of trapped buyers cannot, today, obtain a title deed for the house or apartment they bought and for whom the urban planning amnesty will solve their problem:
In the first category belong the trapped buyers, who bear no responsibility. They bought their housing units from contractor developers who lacked the financial and administrative background, built and sold without supervision and control, and without bothering to submit applications for amendment permits or applications for final approval.
In the second category belong the trapped buyers who bear full responsibility for not securing title deeds due to urban planning irregularities that they carried out in their housing units, such as additions or conversions that increased the approved buildable area, covering open spaces, closing terraces, construction pergolas, and grills, etc. As a result, they cannot secure final approval and, by extension, title deeds.
For all the above buyers-owners, the new urban planning amnesty is a first-class opportunity to legalize their arbitrary constructions.
Price list for irregularities
The legalization of illegality will presuppose the payment of a monetary price. There will be a price list for each irregularity. It will not be priced per square meter, as was the case in the previous urban planning amnesty, implemented in 2011. All income from the urban planning amnesty will be allocated to the social policy of the state.
As we have been told, urban planning irregularities, even on a small scale, that create safety issues or interfere with third-party property or public spaces, cause nuisance or limit accessibility will not be legalized.
What did the previous amnesty provide for?
Efforts have been made to keep the new planning amnesty plan simple and easy to understand to avoid mistakes of the past. Because of its complexity, it did not achieve the high response rate expected for the planning amnesty plan passed by Parliament in March 2011 and implemented a month later.
The government bills provided, among other things, that a planning permit could only be issued for irregularities concerning buildings, additions, or conversions, which entail an increase of the approved buildable area by a maximum percentage of up to 30%. A necessary condition in all cases for the issuance of planning permission for all or part of the development was to ensure the independent operation, the comfortable occupation, and fruition of the development and not to significantly affect the amenities of the area.
Regarding excesses in the building factor, planning permission was granted only if the value of the development area, beyond the allowed, was compensated either by the payment of a sum of money or by the transfer of the building factor.
For properties with significant planning violations, these were recorded on the title but the property could not be transferred to the owners unless the violations were removed.
In cases where the land developer could not fulfill his obligations under the building permit, the 2011 planning amnesty gave the buyers the right to complete their houses/apartments themselves covering the costs. Subsequently, they could take legal action.
A discount was also given.
As an incentive to submit applications more quickly, the 2011 planning amnesty provided a 20% reduction in the specified financial compensation for applications submitted in the legislation's first year and a 10% discount for applications submitted in the second year. No discount was provided for applications submitted during the third year of application for the planning amnesty.