Urban Planning Certification Decree Enforced
New Regulations on Urban Planning Certification Officially Take Effect, Impacting Development Approvals.
Effective from today, October 2, 2024, the Minister of Interior's Decree regarding the "automatic" issuance of urban planning certification for low-risk developments comes into force. This new method of issuing urban planning certificates impacts approximately 30% of the submitted applications, which concern the issuance of urban planning permits for residential developments.
According to the Ministry of Interior's announcement, the Special Decree specifically allows for the construction, expansion, improvement, or conversion of residential development of up to two housing units, either in a single building or in separate buildings, with only the issuance of an urban planning certificate. The certificate will be issued by the Urban Planning Authority, which includes the five District Local Government Organizations, within 20 working days from the date of submission. If the Urban Planning Authority does not issue the certificate within this 20-day period, it will automatically be issued through the "IPPODAMOS" System, and the urban planning permit will be considered granted.
In this process, the responsibility for the accuracy of the submitted data lies exclusively with the planner, who must submit to the relevant Authority a completed Form of the Planner's Declaration of Responsibility, it is emphasized
Ministry of Interior:
This is essentially a checklist, with which the planner certifies that the key aspects of the proposed development are met, such as the building coefficient, the coverage percentage, the number of floors and height, distances from boundaries, parking spaces, and auxiliary buildings.
According to the data, with the new method of issuing urban planning certificates, approximately 30% of the submitted applications concerning the issuance of urban planning permits for residential developments are affected. Therefore, the new process will undoubtedly accelerate the licensing process and, consequently, facilitate development to the benefit of citizens primarily, it is further stated.
With the amendments and modernization of the licensing process, the Ministry of Interior aims to significantly address the delays that are recorded and prevent citizens from proceeding with developments to meet their housing needs. At the same time, it will relieve the District Local Government Organizations of applications concerning low-risk developments, allowing them to focus on other duties, such as reviewing applications for larger-scale developments and strengthening the control and enforcement sector.
The new method of issuing urban planning permits will be subject to continuous evaluation, and based on its results, the plan includes the extension of the measure to developments of up to 12 consecutive houses or 20 apartments in a building.
This, according to the Ministry of Interior, is the latest of a set of 22 measures gradually implemented since last October, in consultation with the Cyprus Scientific and Technical Chamber (ETEK), with the aim of simplifying the process of land development licensing, in the context of the changes introduced in the sector following the Local Government Reform.
