The new Urban Amnesty Plan was approved by the Council of Ministers and it came into effect immediately for a period of only six months. Applications are officially accepted from 23/09/2024 until 23/3/2025.
The amnesty main goal is to allow people to legalize unauthorized constructions in approved developments that involve small-scale planning violations that do not significantly affect the overall development, its type, or their neighbor's comfort such as covering open spaces, closing verandas, building pergolas and grills, etc.
Due to these infringements, thousands of owners can not receive final approval of their property and therefore they cannot receive title deeds. The same also is happening for many buyers who have fully paid the purchase price pursuant their contractual obligations towards the Sellers and/or Developers and have not yet secured a title deed, due to the lack of the final approval because of the planning irregularities. Furthermore, many owners who have title deed of the property, they have altered in such a great way their property (for example constructed additional floors, created new rooms, closed verandas, etc) and the title deed does not reflect any more the actual state of their building.
Eligible for the amnesty are owners of residential units, industrial, agricultural developments, commercial and office developments, entertainment developments, such as cafes, restaurants, snack bars, etc. The properties with planning infringements must have obtained a planning permit or/and building permit by the date the Council of Ministers decided on the implementation of the scheme, i.e., 13/09/ 2024 and the violations must have been completed before the decision of the Council of Ministers. A sworn declaration must be provided by the responsible planner regarding the date of completion of the unauthorized additions.
The financial compensation depends on the infringement, its scale, its significancy as well as the property's location i.e. where the property is located in area with a local plan or in area with a policy statement.
In cases of exceeding the building density coefficient, after examining the application and the approval of the application, the Town Planning Authority will inform the applicant for the payment of the required amount for the compensation. The applicant shall pay a 10% into the accounts of the Planning Authorities (District Administrative Organizations) to cover administrative costs and the rest of the financial compensation will be paid to the Special Funds of the Cyprus Land Development Corporation (KOAG) for Affordable Housing before the issuance of the planning permit.
In cases of regulatory deviations from the provisions of Development Plans (such as covered veranda/pergola, reduced distance from the property boundary, increased coverage percentage) a specific amount is determined for each deviation category, depending on its scale and significance, as well as the administrative region in which the property falls. For example, for pergolas up to 20 square meters, the compensation is expected to be €2,000 in areas with a local plan and €1,000 in areas with a policy statement. For pergolas exceeding 20 square meters, the prices are expected to increase to €3,000 and €1,500, respectively.
The decision of the Council of Ministers is of great importance for thousands of owners who for years have been unable to receive their property titles deeds due to small-scale planning violations and can now with the payment of a financial compensation can apply for a final approval and receive the title deed.
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