Planning permission

General Information

Planning permission is generally required before you start developing premises. The Town and Country Planning Law defines development as the: “carrying out of building, engineering, mining or other operations in, on, over or under immovable property, or the making of any material change in the use of any building or other immovable property”.

If there is any doubt as to whether a planning permit is needed for a particular type of development, the relevant planning authority can make a determination. For this process, you must submit application ΕΑ9.

For development under General or Special Development Orders, planning permission is not required. Building works, however, do still require a building permit.

For any other planning issues related to development, approval must be sought from the Planning Authority. In such cases, the applicant must submit the application directly to the appropriate local authority.

Planning zones and development plans

The planning authorities and the district administrations have development plans that contain maps and plans, as well as detailed planning zones that are available to the public. Staff at the planning authority can answer your questions and help you locate plans.

Information is also available at municipalities and community councils. The public may purchase copies of development plans from the Government Printing Office or its agents and dealers, or find them on the website of the Department of Town Planning and Housing.

The application procedure

Applications for planning permission should be submitted by the owner or their authorised representative (the application must be signed by all co-owners of the property), to the relevant planning authority.

The application should be submitted in three copies of the following documents:

the relevant form, completed and signed;

which should be accompanied by the following original (unless otherwise indicated) and recent documents:

certificate of registration of the immovable property;
three sets of architectural plans and a topographical master plan, signed by the owner of the immovable property and the architect/civil engineer;
cadastral plans;
title deeds or bank certificate regarding mortgaged property;
application fee, payable by cash or cheque.

If the applicant is a legal entity, the following documents are required (original and recent):

Certificate of Incorporation;
Certificate of Registered Office Address;
Certificate of Directors and Secretary;
Certificate of Shareholders;
certified copy of Memorandum and Articles of Association;
proxy statement for the company’s representative.

A town planning permit application may sometimes require a specialised study, such as an environmental impact assessment study, a traffic impact and management assessment study or a study to assess trade and social impact.

The fees, which depend on the type and scale of the development, must be settled when the application is submitted at the customer service desk of the planning authority. Payment of additional fees may be required later on if it proves that the original fees were insufficient. The planning authority issues receipts for fees paid. An electronic fees calculator is available at the Department of Town Planning and Housing’s website.

The planning authority sends a notification of receipt of the application to the applicant or the authorised representative, so that the applicant can address potential omissions. The notification also contains contact details that the applicant can use to keep informed of the progress of their application.

Consideration of applications

The planning authority has three months from the date of submission of an application to come to a decision, although it may exceed this time period if more data needs collection or other authorities and/or bodies need to be consulted in the decision-making process.

In any case, the applicant must wait for the authority to reply regarding their decision on the planning permission.

If granted, the town planning permit issued by the planning authority is valid for a period of three years from the date of issue, unless otherwise stated.