Few take up offer on homes’ altered areas
A legal dispute over a law passed earlier this summer, which allows homeowners to pay a fee to exempt illegally altered parts of their property from further penalties, appears to have deterred people from taking advantage of the measure, as it was revealed yesterday than only about 550 property owners had submitted the necessary paperwork in Athens and Piraeus. When it passed into law some three months ago, the government hoped that it would eventually bring around 2 billion euros into public coffers. But notaries and the Technical Chamber of Greece, who say the measure is vague and not enforceable, have opposed it. The law says that illegally altered areas of homes will not face the threat of demolition if a penalty is paid. However, under the legislation, the area in question, known as semi-open or «imyipaithroi,» are not considered legal either.
