Ignore homes law, says TEE
The professional body that advises the government on engineering and technical matters, the Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE), yesterday called on homeowners to ignore a recent law that allows them to «put in order» parts of their properties that have been illegally altered. Christos Spirtzis,TEE’s vice president, told Skai Radio that he expects dozens of civil engineers and homeowners to appeal against the law, passed through Parliament earlier this summer. Spirtzis also claimed that only 10 people had so far applied to pay the fee so that areas of homes originally planned as balconies but which have since been turned into closed rooms (known as «imyipaithrioi» – «semi-open» in Greek) are no longer subject to any other penalties or the threat of demolition. On Monday, Supreme Court prosecutor Yiannis Tentes said that these homes could be bought and sold without obstruction following complaints from notaries who said the law was contradictory. Town-planning offices are still waiting for clarification from the Public Works Ministry of some of the law’s finer points.
