The Ministry of Environment and Energy admitted that the NOK has been misinterpreted by many and in an attempt to find a solution, it filed a regulation through which the combined use of bonuses is not allowed, so that the additional building in height does not exceed 2 to 3 meters. At the same time, the aim of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to bring the regulation into harmony with the decisions of the Council of State.
What is provided?
But what does it predict? The regulation is horizontal until the urban planning is completed (in 2025) and is carried out in a staggered manner, as the “Free Press” has already written. This practically means that:
1 In areas with a building factor of up to 0.8 the additional building height will not be more than 2 meters (i.e. gain approximately one floor more than the others in the area).
2 In areas with a building factor of 0.8 to 1.6, the additional height that a building will gain will reach up to 2.5 meters.
3 In areas with a building factor greater than 1.6 the “bonus” will be up to 3 meters.
Planted surface
For the planted roofs, the amendment states that “the content of the dossier of supporting documents and the individual specifications of plans and technical report, which are submitted to the competent service for the construction of a Planted Surface, the method of carrying out and the periodicity of the checks for compliance with the terms herein, the amount of the fines in favor of the Green Fund in case of non-implementation of the above technical report, as well as any other related issue are determined by decision of the Minister of Environment and Energy”.
Repeated checks
For building permits for buildings with zero energy consumption, as well as for the creation of planted surfaces, in addition to the prescribed controls, a repeat check is carried out every 5 years by different building inspectors each time.
Goals
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the aim of the proposed regulation is twofold: “a) the rationalization of the use of incentives for the environmental upgrading of the NOK and the improvement of the quality of life in densely built-up and urban areas until the approval of the Local Urban Planning Plans, in order to achieve legal certainty through the integration of the jurisprudence of the Council of State to date, as well as b) the strengthening of controls on the correct application of urban planning provisions, especially those that contribute to the fight against climate change”.
Thus, with par. 1, a transitional regulation is introduced, which will apply from May 1, 2024, until the approval of the T.P.S., i.e. until the end of 2025. During this period, the application of the incentives for the environmental upgrade and improvement of the quality of life in densely built-up and urban areas, as article 10 of the NOK will no longer apply to areas with an applicable building factor that is not greater than 0.8. And if the applicable factor is greater than 0.8, there is a gradual limitation of the total amount of the increase in accordance with the incentives of article 10 of the NOK and par. 8 of article 15 of the same law.
In any case, for reasons of protecting the trust of the governed and to avoid particularly harmful effects, it is provided that the building permits issued before May 1, 2024 using incentives are executed as issued and revised pursuant to the provisions in force at the time of their issuance.
Reactions
NOK’s “bonuses” triggered strong reactions, with several mayors speaking of uncontrolled cementing of their cities. As a result, several municipalities stopped issuing building permits for buildings that use any of the incentives of the new NOK to increase their height. This, in turn, provoked the reaction of the Technical Chamber of Greece, which by sending external judges asked municipalities to revoke these decisions on the suspension of building permits.
The Ministry of Environment and Energy reminds that the NOK came during a very difficult economic period of our country, 12 years ago, in the midst of the Mnemonia, where the construction activity, as well as a number of other activities, had suffered an unprecedented for the Greek standards wound.
However, from 2019 until today, the picture has been completely reversed, as evidenced by the new permits issued as well as the daily picture of new construction sites with buildings under construction all over Greece. Exactly this, according to sources of the Ministry of the Interior, redefines the essence and spirit of the legislator of the New Building Regulation of 2012.
The two goals that the ministry wishes to achieve with the new regulation are, on the one hand, to ensure that the environmentally favorable provisions of the NOK are not lost horizontally, given that it is perhaps the only law of the State that motivates the implementation of constructions with a high energy rating and, secondly, to ensure that the permitted building factor will not alter the special characteristics of the areas.
GR. KONSTANTELLOS: We expected something more brave, they will continue measures to be added
As the mayor of Vari – Voula – Vouliagmeni, Grigoris Konstandellos, explained to the “Free Press”, when asked about the amendment submitted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “we expected something braver from the ministry, obviously we have a move in the right direction with a partial reduction in the height , despite this amendment, meters and floors will continue to be added to the buildings, something which should have disappeared pending the decision of the Council of Ministers and for legal certainty and to avoid the creation of urban developments that can at the end of the day be irreversible”.
It is worth noting that in the last 1.5 years, in the Municipality of Vari – Voula – Vouliagmeni, 115 building permits out of a total of 184 that have been issued have made use of the favorable provisions of the NOK.
Appeal of the Municipality of Alimos
In its plenary session SC is the final decision
It is recalled that the 5th Department of the Council of State ruled unconstitutional the square footage and height bonus given by the New Building Regulation, in a decision issued concerning an appeal by the Municipality of Alimos against a building permit for the construction of an apartment building.
In particular, the CoE concluded that it is not only unconstitutional, but also contrary to Community legislation to take measures that lead to an unrestrained strengthening of construction, without prior study or impact assessment.
However, due to the importance of the matter, it must be decided by the Plenary, to which the case was referred.
