What’s up with public roads?
A brief buyer’s guide.
If you are actively looking to purchase land in Greece, you’ve probably already heard that having a face to a recognized public road has turned into a prerequisite in order to build.
One might say that modern Greece is a country that does not have a tradition with planning, even though some of its main ideas were born here (take a look at Hippodamus and his plan for Miletus) [1]. Since then, centuries of different occupations and administrations left Greece in pieces trying to find its identity into a very advanced Western hemisphere.
Although efforts have been made in the past [2], [3], the most consistent effort to discuss planning in the country took place in the ‘80s, with law 1337/83 [4], when Greece in order to comply with European standards and become an equal member of the Union decided to begin an “Operation of Planning Reform”. This means that most of the legislation we work with today was voted in 40 years ago, reflecting the society and means of that era.
But that was a different version of Greece from the one we know today.
After the crisis of ’09 and the reforms mandated by the memorandum, the country had to take a turn and make major structural adjustments in order to attract foreign direct investments by creating a steady and consistent legal framework that would help boost the country’s economy. To achieve that, planning was paramount, so new laws came into play that bypassed central planning and created loopholes for large foreign investments [5].
All of them however, not touching the issue of building out of settlements.
But let’s get to the point. What indeed is the situation with buildability and public roads?
Building outside a village or a settlement, provided there are no other planning tools in an area (don’t worry, they usually aren’t), fall under the general law of ’85 regarding “out of settlement building”, article 1, paragraph 1, subsection a) which states the following:
“a) Minimum plot area 4000 m2” [6]
The above clearly states that all you need in order to build is a piece of land that’s 4000 square meters (roughly an acre for our friends on the other side of the Atlantic).
This vagueness, led to a very unexpected consequence. Landowners would start dividing large properties in order to create buildable pieces of 4000 m2 in order to maximize their profits and utilize their land in the best possible way. This in turn led to small, developer oriented, “settlements” showing up left and right without any proper infrastructure provided by the Greek government (i.e. water supply, drainage, roads etc.) leaving their mark on the landscape and of course the use of resources.
This is what led to the infamous 2003 law that “updated” the above article with this:
“Minimum plot area 4.000 sqm and face on a public road of 25 meters” [7]
This update put a halt on the rampage of the developers at the time, stopping the “dissection” of large properties after that year. However, this – as most solutions in Greece – happened way too late and was a simple patch that tried to attack a specific issue without setting up a wider framework. But let’s not get sidetracked.
This change left us with the following requirements to confirm that a plot was buildable at any given time:
- Α piece of land that had to exist as an entity before 2003 (ergo not divided before the crucial year)
- Α piece of land that had to be 4000 m2
And that was about it for roughly 20 years, until 2023 when the Higher Greek Court dealt with a case for a permit in Patmos and decided to issue a decree claiming the requirements mentioned above were now not enough. Each plot had to have at least a face on a public road as well [8]. And of course that brings us to today.
It can’t be told with certainty why this happened at the time it did and not in the years between. Was it the last drop in a long debated issue or was the environment getting ruined disproportionatelly much during the building boom that followed the crisis of ’09? This we might never learn.
One thing is evident tough. This decision created a severe market turbulence and coupled with inflation and the rising cost of construction completely pulled the carpet under the industry affecting by extension other sectors as well (i.e. tourism).
However, in Greece there is a constitutional separation of powers, meaning that the court’s decree is not a law. Ergo, until the Greek parliament decides to pass a bill incorporating its decision and updating the above articles it only stands in court as legal precedent. In other words, should you get a permit in a plot without a face on a public road and a neighbor decides to go all the way through to the Higher Greek court to report it, the permit might get cancelled.
This fear however, led many planning authorities around Greece to take a stand of not issuing permits in such properties at all, in order to avoid being exposed. As I write this, I’ve gotten a certificate of build ability only a month back using only the minimum requirements (4000 m2 and a date of existence before 2003), meaning that a permit would go through as well.
Of course, this is not a promise let alone a certainty for one who’s looking to buy. Countless clickbait articles show up on mainstream media with titles such as “END TO THE BUILDING OUTSIDE OF SETTLEMENTS” [9] and of course as you go through you realize that the content does not match the boldness of the statement.
Greek media cultivate terror to Greek citizens and foreign buyers alike. If that’s just incompetence or guided strategy, only time will tell. Faces of the government state every couple of months that “the issue will be resolved with a new bill” [10], [11], but a year has passed and nothing has happened. Just press and bill drafts that try to find the golden section between an country free of planning and the citizens right to build.
One thing is alarming however. Taking away the right of the citizens to build, sounds very close to taking their right to own a home. Thus, stopping out of settlement construction without providing first an alternative plan can have catastrophic results to the economy and the cohesion of our society.
Scattered development is very problematic, but the only answer to that is creating a cohesive planning framework which will guide the urban development of the future in a sustainable way. This is the mindset that will take us out of this rabbit hole, not segmented political agendas that solve problems as they appear in the least scientific way possible.
REFERENCES
[1] A. Burns, “Hippodamus and the Planned City,” Hist. Z. Für Alte Gesch., vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 414–428, 1976.
[2] ΦΕΚ 228 Α’, Περί σχεδίων πόλεων, κωμών και συνοικισμών του Κράτους και οικοδομής αυτών.1923.
[3] ΦΕΚ 266 Α’, Περί Γενικού Οικοδομικού Κανονισμού του Κράτους. 1955.
[4] Ν. 1337, “‘Επέκταση των πολεοδομικών σχεδίων, οικιστική ανάπτυξη και σχετικές ρυθμίσεις’, ΦΕΚ 33 Α’.” 1983.
[5] “Νόμος 4269/2014 (Κωδικοποιημένος) – ΦΕΚ Α 142/28.06.2014.” Accessed: Dec. 08, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.kodiko.gr/nomothesia/document/81430/nomos-4269-2014
[6] ΦΕΚ 270 Δ’, Τροποποίηση των όρων και περιορισμών δόμησης των γηπέδων των κειμένων εκτός των ρυμοτομικών σχεδίων των πόλεων και εκτός των ορίων των νομίμως υφισταμένων προ του έτους 1923 οικισμών. 1985.
[7] ΦΕΚ 308 Α’, Άδεια δόμησης, πολεοδομικές και άλλες διατάξεις θεμάτων αρμοδιότητας Υπουργείου Περιβάλλοντος, Χωροταξίας και Δημοσίων Έργων. 2003.
[8] 176/2023, Απόφαση Ολομέλειας του ΣτΕ, vol. ECLI:EL:COS:2023:0203A176.19E151. 2023. Accessed: Dec. 08, 2024. [Online]. Available: http://www.adjustice.gr/webcenter/faces/wcnav_externalId/search-caselaws?_adf.ctrl-state=114fliaujp_91&_afrLoop=16498762195942842#!
[9] Αργύρης, “ΥΠΕΝ: τέλος στην εκτός σχεδίου δόμηση από το 2027-2028,” ECOPRESS. Accessed: Dec. 08, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://ecopress.gr/ypen-telos-stin-ektos-schediou-domisi-a/
[10] Αργύρης, “ΣτΕ: νέα απόφαση ανατροπής του σχεδιασμού, για την εκτός σχεδίου δόμηση,” ECOPRESS. Accessed: Dec. 08, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://ecopress.gr/ste-nea-apofasi-anatropis-tou-schedias/
[11] Γ. Λ. Δ. Δελεβέγκος, “Αλλαγές στην εκτός σχεδίου δόμηση,” Η ΚΑΘΗΜΕΡΙΝΗ. Accessed: Dec. 08, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.kathimerini.gr/politics/563273995/allages-stin-ektos-schedioy-domisi/