Building Permission on Hydra Island Greece
On the SaronicNet website we advertise many properties
some of them ruins or properties that need to be rebuilt, modernized,
and/or renovated. When we state 'yes' or 'no' to 'build permit' in the
summaries for each property for sale in Hydra, we are referring to whether
permission has already been obtained for building work to commence. It
does not indicate that the property did or didn't have permission to be
built in the first place. So if you see a property that needs total
renovation and we have stated yes to the build permit, it means that the
seller has already applied for, obtained and paid for planning permission
to carry out the rebuild, renovation or extra building to the existing
property. This is attractive to a prospective buyer because it will save
them the time, effort and cost of applying for permission - the average
cost of permission is about €10,000 per application (which
isn't necessarily approved first time) and can take anything from 6 to 24
months to obtain. So the main attraction is that you can immediately start
work on your dream Greek island holiday home rather than having to wait
for the boring bits to be completed!
Existing property for sale on Hydra that was built prior
to (circa) 1987 did not require specific building permission although
before this year and as is nowadays, prior to any sale, the seller was
required to provide evidence (title deeds) that they not only owned the
building and the land it was on but also must have had plans to reflect
the layout of the property being sold. Any property built after the 1950's
when the island's national monument status came into being must also
conform to the preservation laws as well. It is assumed that the original
building was legal (ie had permission if necessary) because the seller
can't actually sell the property without all the right paperwork. At
SaronicNet we go to exhaustive lengths to ensure that the property already
has all the correct paperwork before we advertise it. However in most
cases with property to rebuild, etc., it is the incoming buyer's
responsibility to apply for permission to undertake future work once the
property is owned by them. Again at SaronicNet we are happy to point
buyer's in the right direction.
Nowadays building permission is required for all new
building (including extensions) and for quite a lot of renovation building
work too. Basically anything that changes the landscape requires a permit.
Not only must the Greek national building rules be adhered to but also the
local laws that are specific to Hydra because of its status as a preserved
national monument. Planning permission is also required for renovation
work such as replacing a roof even if it is intended that exactly the same
type, size and position of the new roof will be the same as the original
(minus the leaks of course!).
SaronicNet customers are given a copy of our "Insider's
Guide" which presents a step-by-step list of everything you need to know
and do to obtain permission along with useful hints and tips plus quotes
from existing homeowners who have bought property on Hydra and have
rebuilt or renovated. |
