Ban on building outside zoning areas delayed again

Despite vowing this would be the last, the Environment Ministry has granted another extension for some 10,000 applications filed with the country’s building licensing services seeking the green light for irregular construction on small plots outside zoning districts.

The frequent practice of “one-off” regulations allowing construction on plots smaller than the permissible minimum of 4,000 square meters on land that is not in an area under development was banned by the Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court, 15 years ago. That ban became law in 2020, though the relevant legislation granted a deadline of two years for pending license applications to be processed.

The extension of the December 2022 deadline to September 30, 2023, however, caused a flood of fresh requests for building licenses on such plots – hence the new extension of another six months until the end of March 2024.

The latest extension was part of an amendment added to a Health Ministry bill passed through Parliament.