Construction outside zoning areas to grow

Amid the unprecedented explosion of real estate and construction, especially on the islands as of 2017, the Environment Ministry presented new regulations to the cabinet on Tuesday that encourages building activity outside town zoning areas.

In the last three years, the country's highest administrative court, the Council of State, in a series of decisions, has forced planning authorities to apply the law on construction outside zoning areas, allowing it only under specific conditions.

The crackdown on those which systematically circumvented the rule (in force since 1985 and specified in 2003), resulted in a drastic reduction in the number of building permits issued for areas outside town planning zones. 

However, the new regulations, which have yet to be made public, will usher in a significant increase in such construction, especially on plots that have...