A definitive end has been put to the bonus for the extension of the planning regulations concerning the building factor and the height of buildings of the character we have known so far, by the Plenary Session of the Council of State.

In a decision that has not yet been finalized but its contents were made known yesterday by the President of the Plenum, Michalis Pikramenos, the Council of State draws a red line on as many buildings built to date that will retain the character of the provisions that were struck down in the State Council. Instead, those permits that had not started construction work by yesterday, December 11, and of course those that have pending litigation in the State Council following appeals, which are estimated to be few in number, are cancelled.

The rationale

“The Plenary of the CoE, after a series of conferences, concluded that for reasons of public interest, the decision will not have retroactive effect and will not apply to building permits that have already been issued to date and have demonstrably begun implementation work. On the contrary, those for which construction work has not started are declared invalid,” the announcement of the Plenary of the CoE states. The court’s reasoning does not concern the content of the regulations of the New Building Code, but that “these provisions provide directly to the building services the possibility to issue building permits, in deviation, and even substantial, from the building conditions applicable in the urban planning regime of each region.”

Without, as pointed out, having taken into account and weighed their consequences on the residential environment of each area at the stage of urban planning, following a special scientific study documenting the regulations contained in these provisions in relation to the particularities and physiognomy of each settlement.

The provisions for the non-counting in the building factor of the lofts and the main use space of 35 square meters in the roof of the building as well as the equation of the swimming pool with a planted surface, were also considered unconstitutional. On the contrary, the Council of State does not prohibit the non-counting in the building factor of the bay windows (closed balconies) and staircases.

Legislative regulation

The Ministry of the Environment announced yesterday that the NOC case will be dealt with by a legislative regulation that the Ministry of the Environment will bring immediately so that the bonuses of the New Building Regulation will be included in the urban planning plans that the Ministry of the Environment is currently preparing in cooperation with the Greek Chamber of Commerce and which are expected to be completed in three years.

As Environment Minister Theodoros Skylakakis states in protothema.gr, it is a relief for citizens that the decision of the Council of State is not retroactive as it relieves those who built with a great inconvenience in exchange for the energy upgrade of buildings and the increase of public spaces and green areas.

“We will put NOC incentives into planning plans where they are needed,” he says, and this will require legislation. He even clarifies that incentives will be granted based on the specifics of an area. “We won’t put gardens in Papagos but we can put them in Kypseli, we won’t put energy upgrades in Crete but we can put them in Kozani,” he says.

The background of the NOC

The CoE’s decision closes a long cycle of conflict between Attica’s municipalities and the environment ministry over NOK bonuses. The main argument of the municipal authorities was that the building regulation caused the demolition of a number of single-family houses in Attica, which were replaced by high-rise buildings with 2 to 3 additional floors.

The first battle was won by the municipality of Filothei Psychiko, which “burned” the bonuses of the NOC and banned the issuance of building permits with the disputed provisions. Subsequently, the Ministry of Environment proceeded to a regulation exempting the areas of Filothei Psychiko and Ekali from the NOC as garden cities. The thread of the case was then grasped by the southern municipalities of Attica, led by the mayor of Alimos, Andreas Kondylis, and the mayor of Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni, Gregory Konstantello, who were followed by other municipalities (Athens, Kifissia etc.a), prohibiting the issuance of new permits using the incentives from the Building Services and appealing to the State Council and the Administrative Court of Appeal to stop the construction of high-rise buildings.

The municipalities-SYPE conflict brought last spring the ministry’s “tidying up” of the NOC and banned the combined application of the building code’s bonuses.

Already, however, it is estimated that in the 3V municipality, about 35 buildings have been built using provisions of the NOC, of which 5 building permits have been challenged in the administrative appeal court. Also in the municipality of Alimos there are appeals for another 30 building permits and new ones are being prepared.

Legal circles that handled the building regulation case speak of a positive decision for the vast majority of people. They stress that home buyers are the winners, but real estate developers and building contractors are the losers, as they lose (at least for the time being) the possibility to increase the building factor and the height of new buildings, limiting their profits in real estate sales.