Athens suburb of Filothei-Psychiko blocks raising building heights

The Municipality of Filothei-Psychiko in northern Athens is Greece’s first suburb to attempt to stop the increase in the height of buildings in its area.

The municipal council voted unanimously a few days ago to ban the use of the “bonus” height and extra square meters given under certain conditions by the new building regulations on the grounds that it alters the area’s residential character.

“In the last year, as the pandemic receded, there has been an explosion of building construction in our municipality, with owners taking advantage of general provisions of the new building regulation, proceeding to increase the height and the building factor,” Filothei-Psychiko Mayor Dimitris Galanis, told Kathimerini.

“We estimate that until a few months ago, when we stopped being served by the building service of Agia Paraskevi and started operating our own building service, at least 100 building permits were issued that made use of these provisions. Some of them, the ones we learned about in time, we challenged before the Council of State.”