Representing Developers: The Legal Spine of a Greek Development Project

 

Last reviewed 17 October 2026 · Demetre E. Katsouris, Managing Partner, Attorney at Law (Athens Bar)

In a nutshell. A residential development in Greece passes through a fixed legal sequence: acquisition of the plot or an antiparochi agreement with its owner; the building permit on the electronic permit system; the project company and its bank facility; the horizontal-property deed and table of ratios that bring the units into legal existence; presales by notarial pre-contract; the completion certificate, utilities and electronic building identity; and the final deeds with the bank’s release of each unit. Katsouris Law Firm acts for developers across that sequence, so that the documents the developer signs at the start are the documents that allow the units to be sold at the end.

Who this service is for

Developers building apartment buildings and villas in the southern suburbs and the islands; developer groups that market to foreign and Golden Visa buyers; contractors moving into development; and family companies undertaking a first project on an inherited plot.

The sequence, and what we do at each stage

1. The plot. Title examination over the full chain; Cadastre and planning status; servitudes, forest and archaeological constraints; existing buildings and their unpermitted works, which must be addressed before demolition. Acquisition by purchase or by antiparochi, with the preliminary agreement registered against the plot.
2. The project company. Formation of the vehicle (ordinarily an IKE), shareholders’ agreement where partners are involved, authority of signatories, bank account and KYC.
3. The permit. Coordination with the architect and engineer on the permit application under the New Building Regulation; review of the approved plans against the marketing scheme; management of revisions.
4. Finance. The construction facility and its mortgage over the plot; the schedule of release values per unit, so that each buyer’s payment funds the release of that buyer’s unit at the deed.
5. The horizontal-property deed. Execution once the permit issues: division of the future building into units with plot shares and common-expense ratios; the building regulation, including any provision on short-term letting; allocation of landowner’s units under an antiparochi.
6. Presales. The developer’s standard notarial pre-contract, with stage payments against certified milestones, security for buyers’ deposits, the VAT election recorded, and the Golden Visa representations the developer can lawfully give.
7. Construction. Contractor and subcontractor agreements; supervision and certification; variations and claims.
8. Completion. Completion certificate, permanent utility connections, energy certificates, electronic building identity, as-built plans; legalisation of any deviation before the first deed.
9. Sales. Final deeds with the bank’s release, the notarial certificate in the form buyers’ migration files require, and the post-sale obligations (defects, building administration hand-over).

Why a single counsel across the project?

Because the failures that stop sales are created early: a horizontal-property deed whose ratios do not match the units sold; a presale schedule that leaves a unit unreleasable from the bank’s mortgage; a marketing area that exceeds the permit’s main-use area and defeats a buyer’s Golden Visa application; a specification that cannot be certified. A lawyer who drafted the first documents can prevent the last problems.

Frequently asked questions

Can we presell before the permit issues? Units may be marketed on the strength of a registered preliminary agreement; no plot share should transfer and no notarial pre-contract should fix a unit until the horizontal-property deed exists.

How do we market to Golden Visa buyers lawfully? By stating the permit’s main-use area and the threshold for the zone, not by promising eligibility; the application is decided on the file. We prepare the representation the developer may give.

Must every buyer’s payment go through the bank? Yes; it is a condition of any Golden Visa application and of the developer’s own tax position.

Related Insights

• Legal foresight in construction: safeguarding investment value
• Buying off-plan or new-build: what to demand from the developer
• Antiparochi

info@katslaw.eu · +30 210 898 2864 · WhatsApp +30 693 3333 144

This page is general information and does not constitute legal advice. It reflects the law as at the date shown and may change.