Last reviewed 27 October 2026 · Demetre E. Katsouris, Managing Partner
In a nutshell. Any construction or change of use carried out without a permit, or in deviation from it, renders the property untransferable: a sale, gift or parental gift of a property with unlegalised unpermitted works is void. Under Law 4495/2017, works completed before 28 July 2011 in categories 1 to 4 may be declared and legalised until 31 March 2028, on payment of a fine calculated by statutory formula; works after that date cannot be legalised and must be removed. We coordinate the engineer’s survey and declaration and resolve the co-ownership and inheritance questions that commonly stand in the way.
What counts as unpermitted?
An enclosed balcony or veranda; a loft, storage or roof room above the permitted height; a basement or pilotis converted to habitation; an extension on a plot in a village or outside the town plan; a change of use from shop to dwelling or dwelling to office; an outbuilding, pool or boundary wall without approval; and any construction that departs from the approved plans even where a permit exists. Buildings completed before 1955 fall outside the regime. Declaring an area to the tax authority on the E9 does not legalise it.
What can and cannot be legalised?
Category 1 (buildings completed before 1983 with no later alteration), categories 2 and 3 (minor exceedances, alterations within the envelope, enclosed semi-open spaces) and category 4 (violations up to 40% of permitted area or height and 20% of coverage) may be declared until 31 March 2028. Category 5, the largest violations and unpermitted buildings outside the plan, has been closed since 30 September 2020. Works in protected zones — shoreline, forest, archaeological areas, protected watercourses — and works breaching minimum distances from roads or boundaries beyond the tolerance are excluded subject to specific exceptions. Works built after 28 July 2011 cannot be legalised.
How is the procedure conducted?
- The engineer surveys the property against the permit and classifies each deviation.
- The declaration is entered on the Ministry’s electronic system with the area and nature of the violation, the year of construction, the zone value and whether the property is a main residence; the system calculates the fine, payable in instalments. The discounts available to earlier declarants no longer apply; the 2026 base figure remains well below the cost of demolition or a lost sale.
- On payment of the first instalment and submission of the complete file, the works are treated as legalised for the purposes of a transfer, and the engineer issues the certificate of lawful construction that attaches to the deed and feeds the electronic building identity.
- The E9 is amended so that the legalised area becomes declared area.
What if the co-owners disagree?
Any one co-owner may file the declaration for the whole property without the others’ consent, bearing the fine and retaining a claim for contribution against them; the law was amended to that effect because co-ownership disputes were obstructing legalisation. Where the property has passed through an unaccepted inheritance, the inheritance must be completed first, since the certificate is issued for a transfer by the registered owner.
Why act before a sale is agreed?
The engineer’s survey takes weeks; where the planning office’s permit file is incomplete — common for buildings of the 1960s and 1970s — redrawing takes months; the fine is paid over time; and a buyer who discovers unpermitted works at the preliminary-agreement stage withdraws or reprices. A parent planning a gift to a child requires the same certificate as a seller.
Frequently asked questions
My father enclosed the balcony in 1995 and it has been declared on the E9 as living space ever since. Is it lawful? No. Tax declaration is not legalisation. It is a category 2 or 3 violation, declarable until March 2028.
The roof room was built in 2014. Post-2011 works cannot be legalised. The engineer advises on removal.
Does legalisation increase my ENFIA? The legalised area becomes declared area, so yes, prospectively. From tax year 2027 the building identity will in any event set the taxable area.
Can I legalise and sell in the same month? Once the first instalment is paid and the file is complete, yes.
Related Insights
- Legalising unpermitted works in Greece: the window now runs to 31 March 2028
- The certificates a Greek property needs before it can be sold, let or gifted
This page is general information and does not constitute legal advice. It reflects the law as at the date shown and may change.
