The demolition of the first unauthorized buildings erected since January 1, 2024, will begin in the fall, he said in an interview with the newspaper TA NEA Minister of Environment and Energy Theodoros Skylakakis.
According to him, the demolition of unauthorized buildings will not be carried out by ordinary contractors, but by the mayors of the districts in which the unauthorized buildings subject to demolition are located, and their owners will be notified at the last moment.
The demolition procedure will be carried out immediately, unless the owners of the unauthorized buildings subject to demolition decide to file a lawsuit against the decision to issue a demolition protocol. (Is that what “last minute notice” is for? Editor's note). In this case, the ministry expects that approximately 4.5 months will pass from the moment the application for cancellation is filed until the case is considered (It's hard to believe, given the speed at which courts work in Greece. Editor's note).
The overall picture of the problem
As the Minister of Environment and Energy explained, the above-mentioned demolitions are part of the so-called Phase A of the program for identifying unauthorized construction. When the system of monitoring the built environment/identifying and demolishing unauthorized constructions is completed, it will be possible to obtain a complete picture of the number and area of unauthorized constructions that have not been regulated.
It should be noted that the total budget of the above-mentioned system, for which the Ministry of Environment is responsible, is 124 million euros (100 million euros from the Recovery and Resilience Fund and 24 million euros from the Public Investment Programme). The implementing body is the Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE).
Old buildings will also be demolished.
It should be noted that the red line remains July 28, 2011. Then, after the demolition of illegal buildings is completed, phase B will be implemented. That is, as Thodoris Skylakakis says, a new operation will begin to demolish the so-called “old” illegal buildings, those that were erected and not resettled before July 28, 2011.
It is not yet clear what the criteria will be for the demolition of so-called “old” unauthorized buildings, but the Ministry of the Environment says that the demolition will begin with so-called “egregious” cases, such as unauthorized buildings erected on land that does not belong to the owners of these buildings and which cannot be legalized.
What will happen to category 5?
According to the Minister of Environment and Energy, when the operation to demolish illegal buildings (new and old) begins, then the discussion of the issue of regulating unauthorized buildings with serious violations (these are unauthorized buildings that fall under the so-called category 5) will begin.
According to the Environment Ministry, the previous model of detection and demolition by local governments was ineffective mainly due to a lack of resources and personnel. Now, under the new regime, anyone without a permit will be identified through a monitoring mechanism, which will significantly reduce the inspection time. Under the provisions, the owner of an unauthorized property can voluntarily accept the demolition report and demolish or restore the property to its former legal use.
Fines and their reductions
If the owner complies with the requirements, 50% of the construction fine is cancelled, administrative fines are not imposed or cancelled if already imposed, and administrative prosecution is terminated. In case of partial compliance by the owner, 50% of the construction fine related to demolished buildings and restored objects is cancelled, and all other fines are imposed.
What does the new system provide?
In accordance with the new system, as mentioned above, all unauthorized buildings that do not have a permit and were erected after January 1, 2024, will be demolished on a priority basis. It is also assumed that the number of unauthorized buildings to be demolished will be at least equal to the number of final demolition protocols for the control year (2024), 50% of which will meet the time priority criteria, and 50% – according to environmental and spatial criteria.
The law allows for priority, in derogation from the provisions, for unauthorized buildings for which this entails significant environmental damage. In this regard, a request has already been submitted to the Green Fund for a loan of 2,000,000 euros for the demolition of unauthorized buildings, for which final decisions will be made and demolition protocols will be drawn up.
Limits and Six Laws
“The state is seeking for the first time to impose restrictions on unauthorized construction, an issue that has been discussed for decades, without curbing the massive wave of unauthorized construction,” says Energy and Environment Minister Theodoros Skylakakis. As a result, in the last 13 years alone, five different laws have been passed (this is the sixth), which were mainly of a revenue nature, instilling in citizens the confidence that any unauthorized construction – with rare exceptions – can be regulated by paying a fine for construction and maintenance.”.
New monitoring system
For The implementation of the built environment monitoring system includes, in particular, conducting satellite photography of the entire territory and creating a digital reference orthophoto map for 100,000 square kilometers. It is also planned to create a digital orthophoto map with an accuracy of up to 20 m based on aerial photography from manned aircraft, primarily in areas with increased problems of unauthorized construction.
In addition, a digital model of the relief and surface will be created, and about 2,020,000 buildings will be digitized. Calculation of the coverage area and total development area of each building, and creation of a 3D registry of buildings, as well as the use of machine learning and specialized artificial intelligence algorithms.
In addition, it is envisaged to establish a coordination office and provide support services for monitoring unauthorized construction during the project implementation period and for 8 years by experienced engineers, as well as to install and operate UAV stations in critical areas to be specified, in order to conduct frequent periodic photogrammetry.
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