Property Building & Renovating Getting Planning Permission on your Greek Property
Getting Planning Permission on your Greek Property
If you have bought and renovated a property before, you will probably find that you may have exceeded your initial budget. The same applies when building a property. Building costs vary, depending on where you buy, what you choose to do and who you employ to work. If you stick to your bidget and go to the right places and deal with the right people, you could build your own dream property for less than you could buy a renovated property for.
Planning permission is required for any piece of land that you wish to build on. If however, you buy a property in need of renovation, then you don't need to apply for planning permission if the property is classed as habitable. Renovating a property is usually less expensive than buying land and building on it.
The first step, before you begin building is to purchase a plot of land. It is important to remember that permission to build will not be granted on land that has forest or archaeology laws and restrictions. Before buying a plot of land, try to find out if it is possible to have planning permission granted. Any piece of land that is bought and appears on the town planning zone, will already have planning permission, other plots that are not on the town plan and are in more rural areas, will need planning permission. If the plot of land is on the town plan, then planning permission can be granted on a plot as little as 2,000m2. If the land is not on the plan, planning permission will only be given on plots of land that are 4,000m2 or bigger, but this law is said to change in the future to a minimum of 6,000m2. As long as the plot doesn't have planning permission restrictions, getting permission granted is usually quite easy.
On a plot of land that is 4, 000m2, although planning permission is granted on the whole plot, it allows you to build on only 220m2 of the area. This is the usual rule, but it may vary depending on different circumstances, the area and building regulations. If the land is set near to a main road, then the area of the build on a plot that is 4,000m2 can be as much as 2,000m2 instead. Buying land is not too difficult, but there is a restriction on the amount of building that happens, as Greece do not want their countryside to be turned into a concrete jungle.