A legislative initiative by the Ministry of Environment and Energy aims to resolve a four-decade-long issue that had threatened construction activities across thousands of small settlements, explained Deputy Minister Nikos Tagaras in an interview with ERT today (2.7.2025). The problem originated from Council of State decisions in 2017 and 2019, which ruled that regional authorities lacked the authority to define settlement boundaries according to the 1985 presidential decree. As a result, building limits were annulled in at least 150 settlements—including areas in Pelion and Rethymno—freezing building permits even in village centers. Around 12,000 settlements with fewer than 2,000 residents across Greece were potentially affected.
The new regulation restores urban planning normalcy by redefining settlement boundaries through presidential decrees and geographic coordinates, ensuring legal certainty. ‘For the first time, we are moving forward with a process that guarantees settlement boundaries won’t be invalidated by the Council of State,’ Tagaras emphasized. He clarified that the regulation primarily applies to settlements with under 700 residents—representing 93% of all settlements below 2,000 inhabitants—allowing construction to continue based on previously established boundaries until new local urban plans are approved.
The full resolution will come through Local and Special Urban Planning Schemes, expected to be gradually approved over the next two to three years, with the program’s total budget estimated at around €1 billion. Tagaras described the reform as a barrier against urban planning chaos, noting that most small communities have remained without approved city plans until now, causing uncertainty for property owners and engineers, and significant delays in issuing permits. He also referred to historical gaps dating back to 1923 that are now being addressed, setting one of the most chaotic sectors of Greek urban reality on a path toward regularization.