Greek Property Laws & Compliance

It’s no secret that buying and selling property in Greece comes with a lot of red tape! Thankfully in recent years there have been significant efforts made to organize and simplify property related processes, not to mention a massive leap in digitization.

To help you along in the process, we recommend that you have the below checklist of Greek property portfolio documents in order. Of course, every case is unique and the below may not cover your specific property needs.

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* Building Permit and revisions if any
* Authorized Drawings attached to the building permit
* Declaration/Drawings of Law No. 3843/10 if submitted
* Declaration/Drawings of Law No. 4495/17 (or Law No. 4178/13, 4014/11)
* As Built Drawings/Floor Plans
* Title Deeds
* Energy Performance Certificate
* Structural Report or Structural Stability Report if required
* Certification of Construction Inspection if issued

Here is a more detailed look at some of these requirements:

Declaration of Property in Greece - Law No. 4495/17
The first step in verifying the legal status of your property in Greece is to conduct an on-site inspection after gathering authorized building plans and licenses.


If illegalities have been determined, we can begin the initial phase of declaring the property. Through the electronic system of the Technical Chamber of Greece, the owner will be given a unique application code of the declaration and the invoice of the initial lump-sum payment necessary to validate the process.


Fines are determined depending on property size, the type of use of the structure, the frame time it was built, as well as the area’s set tax value. The fees required for each declaration and completion of final documentation/property portfolio differ depending on the nature, size and complicity of the structure.

Electronic Building ID Code & Certificate
The Electronic Building ID Code is a key tool that provides detailed information for all registered properties in Greece. Property transactions and title searches are now simpler, faster and most importantly, more transparent. This code, which can also be described as the “as-built status” of a property, is representative of what has been built on-site in terms of dimensions, area surface and use of buildings.


All property transactions cannot be complete without the Electronic Building ID Code Certificate which is issued for all buildings and parcels without structures and valid for 2 months. If there are any layout, facade and property-use changes, the Building UD Code must be updated to ensure the legal status of the property.


All information collected from building permits and drawings, the Greek Tax Authorities, Hellenic Cadastre details, Declarations of Legality and Energy Performance Certificates are all recorded on an electronic database. These details are then all electronically linked to Greek authorities and public entities related to property ownership to secure access to the exact same property information.

Energy Performance Certificates & Inspections
According to Greek Law, all deeds of conveyance and rental agreements for existing buildings are complete and valid only after an Energy Performance Certificate is issued and submitted to the Greek tax office or notary public. Energy Performance Certificates (or EPC’s) are unique documents issued through an electronic system of the Greek Ministry of the Environment only by Certified Energy Inspectors; they state the level of efficiency in terms of energy consumption after concluding an inspection of the building in question.


In order to collect the data needed for certification, we will visit your property and its surroundings to conduct a thorough inspection. During this process we will access each room for a general overview of insulation/exterior shading, note the size and type of glazing structures, inspect the heating, hot water, cooling and lighting system (in cases of commercial property). If floor plans are not provided, the property will be measured on-site. Following the inspection process, a certificate will be issued and valid for 10 years regardless of rental and ownership title changes.

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