Thousands of small property owners across Greece have been blindsided by a new government decree that threatens to strip up to 90% of their land’s value overnight. A sweeping presidential order, issued earlier this month by the Ministry of Environment and Energy, redefines the rules for building and land use in villages with fewer than 2,000 residents.
Under the new regulations, only plots larger than two stremmata (around half an acre) with direct access to a recognized public road will qualify as buildable within these small settlements. The move retroactively affects properties even within the traditional village cores, while lands in peripheral or historically newer parts of villages are subjected to different, but equally restrictive, rules.
At the heart of the controversy is the annulment of numerous post-1983 village expansions, a step taken to comply with Greece’s highest administrative court, the Council of State, which found many local government boundary decisions unlawful. Thousands of properties that were once considered prime building plots are now at risk of being reclassified as farmland, causing immediate and severe loss of value.
The backlash has been fierce, particularly in regions like Crete. Property owners’ associations warn that the measure will devastate local economies, fuel rural depopulation, and worsen housing shortages for public workers and seasonal laborers. They also point to a broader risk: the potential collapse of confidence among foreign investors, particularly those who bought land through Greece’s popular Golden Visa program, lured by promises of secure real estate investments.
The Central Union of Municipalities of Greece (KEDE) has formally opposed the decree, urging the government to reconsider. However, officials admit that options are limited. The Council of State has made clear that any future regulations must survive strict legal scrutiny. Government insiders suggest a compromise may emerge, allowing for controlled development in newly designated zones with lower minimum plot sizes, but expectations are low that small landowners with plots under 500 square meters will be spared.
