What “buildable” really means out of plan
The agent quotes a buildable area. Here’s what that number quietly depends on.
Most rural Greek land is εκτός σχεδίου, outside the town plan. It can absolutely be built on, but “buildable” here is a conditional word, and the conditions are where buyers get caught.
The 4,000 m² rule, and its exceptions
The general baseline for building out of plan is a minimum plot size of 4,000 m² (αρτιότητα). But a web of legacy exceptions (παρέκκλιση) lets smaller plots build if they pre-date certain dates or met older rules. Whether a specific plot qualifies depends on its history, not on the seller’s optimism.
Frontage, coverage and coefficients
Even a large plot needs legal frontage onto a recognised public road; access over a neighbour’s land or a private track is not the same thing. And the headline area you can build is governed by coverage and floor-area coefficients, plus height limits, so the buildable-area figure an agent quotes depends on the plot qualifying, the road existing in law, and the coefficients applying as assumed.
What to confirm
- The plot’s exact area and road frontage, from a current topographic survey.
- Whether it builds under the baseline rule or relies on a παρέκκλιση, and the evidence for it.
- The legal status of the access: public road versus private right.
- Any prior planning permission (οικοδομική άδεια) and what it allowed.
Get those four right and the buildability number means something. Skip them and it’s a sales figure.
Reading about the risk is free. Measuring it is £99 (€115).
The AVLI Risk Snapshot ranks these themes for your exact plot and, where your papers and location allow, runs preliminary checks no listing will: the out-of-plan arithmetic, the deed-against-survey cross-check, the measured distance to the shore.