Top court shoots down bonuses for taller buildings

In a ruling on Tuesday, the Council of State, Greece's highest administrative court, deconstructed all the arguments in favor of the bonuses included in the building regulation which can enable the construction of taller buildings.

Ruling on an appeal filed by the Municipality of Alimos in southern Athens against the bonuses, the court said that they are not only unconstitutional, but also contrary to EU legislation that forbids measures that lead to the unrestrained construction of buildings without prior study or estimates of possible consequences.

The text of the decision also notes that the bonuses lead to a number of problems, such as increasing property values, worsening the housing problem, creating a wave of demolitions of single-family houses and others.

The final decision, however, will be made by the plenary to which the case has been referred.