The application for a planning permit for low-risk developments, that is, those that include houses and apartment buildings of 8-10 apartments, is abolished.
The above regulation is included in a package of legislative regulation promoted by the Minister of the Interior, Konstantinos Ioannou, in collaboration with ETEK.
The above regulation is included in a legislative package promoted by the Minister of Interior, Konstantinos Ioannou, in collaboration with ETEK.
As explained by the minister, the most significant modification in the proposed legislation “involves the elimination, through legislation, of the requirement to obtain urban planning and construction permits for small developments.” According to the minister, the goal is to reduce the processing time by entrusting specialists in architecture and civil engineering with the responsibility of verifying the accuracy and completeness of applications.
The package of measures includes the following:
- Abolishing the requirement for agreements to be signed between applicants and the Municipal Authority for services such as land acquisition for parking, green public space acquisition, renewable energy sources, renewable energy planning, mobile phone towers, etc. The aim is to expedite the urban planning permit process, as signing agreements does not offer any advantage compared to imposing a relevant condition to achieve the same result.
- Submission of an urban planning application with the submission of an External Boundary Certificate. As of January 1, 2024, obtaining an External Boundary Certificate will be a prerequisite for submitting an urban planning application, in accordance with the actions of the Department of Land and Cadastral Surveying. The goal is for urban planning applications to be based on accurate and on-site data, without the submission of applications being affected.
- Submission of an urban planning application for development only after obtaining a land development urban planning permit. During the examination of urban planning applications, problems arise due to the submission of applications without knowing the commitments (e.g., road widening, new road network construction, public green space allocation), resulting in delays. From January 1, 2024, applications for urban planning permits for parcel development without obtaining an urban planning permit for land development will not be accepted. The aim is to facilitate the examination of urban planning applications by pre-determining the commitments.
- In cases where the application is incomplete (e.g., environmental impact studies, energy efficiency certificates for the building, etc.) and the designer does not respond to the authorities’ suggestions, the Municipal Authority will make a decision based on the information it has without further delay, which affects the examination of other applications.
- A training plan will be developed immediately for both ETEK members and staff to be hired in the near future to support the Regional Self-Government Organizations (EOA). The Cabinet decided yesterday to hire 105 temporary employees, and the positions will be announced next week.
The abolition of urban planning and construction applications will take effect in approximately 7 months following a legislative regulation.
