eKathimerini — More than a million applications have been submitted to legalise of zoning regulation infringements since 2011, according to data from the Technical Chamber.
Legislation passed in 2011 and 2013 has led to the legalization of zoning violations – such as the conversion of balconies into rooms and a host of other infractions – concerning slightly more than a million properties.
Complex building regulations define the maximum usable living space of a building according to the location and size of a plot of land on which it is built – whether the plot is within or beyond the town boundaries or zoning limits, the positition of the plot relative to a road and the proportion of the plot designated for building.
The total revenue generated from the fees to legalize these constructions and additions currently stands at more than 1.9 billion euros.
Under the present law, property owners will be able to submit applications to legalize their buildings or additions made to them until September 23.
However, this date may change as the Environment Ministry plans to legislate a new framework in the coming days.
Most of these legalizations – 274,111 – were in the Attica region and concern a total of 21 million square meters of property.
The port city of Thessaloniki follows with 66,911 property owners having broken the rules, representing a total area of 6.2 million square meters.
The popular holiday resort area of Halikidiki recorded 27,232 applications representing a total area of 2.1 million square meters.
With regard to the islands, most of the building regulation infringements were reported on Crete, with 41,418 recorded zoning violations, representing 6 million square meters.
The island’s capital, Heraklion, is where the most – 16,338 – violations occurred, covering almost 3 million square meters.
