The planning approval process

This is the first step of the construction

Planning Approval

Obtaining planning permission normally takes about 1 – 2 months, but can often take much longer depending on the type  of building plot

General planning area definitions

Plots of land are generally categorized as :-

• Within the town or village plan
• Within the planning area ( Up to about 1km from the town boundaries)
• Outside the planning area
• Forestry or prime agricultural land

Within the town plan there are various building density (from 10% up to 250%) and coverage rules (up to 100%), which depend on the locality

Plots within the planning area allow building but under special restrictions

Plots outside the planning area are categorized primarily as agricultural , but permission can be obtained for building up to 5% density on plots over 4,000 sq.m. depending on when they were defined, their road frontage and the age of the road on which they front.

Building is generally prohibited in forestry areas

In ALL cases you should get the formal advice of a Civil Engineer (Politikos Mechanikos)

The Planning Process

Having purchased your property , the first stage is to draw up architectural plans for submission to the planning Office. You will need to make an initial payment to the architect at this stage.

Together with these you will need to provide various certificates relating to archaeological issues, that the land is not in a forestry area, that road access is adequate.

For land outside the planning area a certificate relating to the road may be necessary as will aerial photgraphs . GPS co-ordinates will also be required for the planning officer to visit the site personally

Planning permission

Once the basic plans have been agreed, the architect will draw up the detailed plans for foundations, structure(concrete), piping, electrics, heating study, lighting.

These will be submitted together with estimates for construction cost and man-days which will be used by the Tax Authority and social security funds

The architects fees and various taxes will then need to be deposited into the bank and a formal receipt issued

Following this the formal planning permission (with all its stamps) will be issued