The near-complete rollout of the Land Registry, combined with the announced overhaul of Urban Planning Services, reveals a sweeping spatial and urban reform already underway — though one facing a storm of objections at the local and regional level.
The completion of the Land Registry and Mitsotakis’ message
99% of the country’s property rights are now in the public posting phase, and with the inclusion of the final areas of Crete, Lesvos, and Lemnos, virtually every land parcel in Greece now has a unique cadastral registration number. “A 200-year pending issue for the Greek state, for the Greek administration, for the concept and protection of private property, has finally been resolved,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis declared at Tuesday’s official event, calling the completion of the land survey perhaps the most landmark reform of his New Democracy government.
He also outlined the “next major reform,” announcing plans to “swiftly move forward with the transfer of Building Services from local government to the Land Registry, so that we have a single central authority responsible for property matters and construction oversight.”
Mitsotakis’ strategy through to 2030
According to aides close to the prime minister, Mitsotakis’ statement carried a clear strategic signal about the roadmap New Democracy intends to follow ahead of the spring 2027 elections. They particularly highlighted his framing of the Land Registry reform as a symbol of the government’s determination to eradicate deep-rooted corruption and opacity inherited from the past — with a stated goal of addressing all such systemic failures by 2030.
“The 2030 deadline the prime minister set is no coincidence,” they noted. “It conveys the idea of continuity that government work must have if Greece is to be truly transformed — continuity that, however, must first pass through the ballot box in 2027.”
Maritime spatial planning and the new regulatory framework
In line with the broader spatial reform agenda, a new framework for the organization of Greece’s maritime space has been established through Maritime Spatial Planning. This has been followed by studies on Spatial Frameworks, initially covering Tourism and Renewable Energy Sources, with frameworks for Mineral Raw Materials, Industry, and Aquaculture set to follow shortly.
Local Urban Plans rolling out across the country
In the field of spatial and urban planning, the completion of Local Urban Plan (LUP) studies is expected to cover more than 400 municipal units, alongside Settlement Boundary Studies, Building Coefficient Transfer Zone Studies, and Road Recognition Studies — all aimed at reinforcing integrated and consistent land management across Greece.
The “Konstantinos Doxiadis” programme and Greece’s biggest-ever urban reform
Meanwhile, the flagship Urban Reform Programme of the Ministry of Environment and Energy — named after the renowned Greek urban planner “Konstantinos Doxiadis” — is currently being implemented, albeit under increasingly tight deadlines. The government considers this the largest spatial and urban reform in Greece since the founding of the modern Greek state, as it marks the first time in a century — since 1923, when the first legislative decrees on city and settlement planning were enacted in response to the housing crisis that followed the Asia Minor Catastrophe — that a comprehensive and modern spatial and urban plan is being developed for the entire country, with the goal of bringing legal clarity and order to land use.
What changes with the new Building Code (NOK)
The reform of the New Building Code (NOK) aims, according to official briefings, to modernize and simplify the regulatory framework governing construction terms and rules. Key objectives include accelerating the permitting process, cutting bureaucracy, and improving the quality of the built environment. The reform encompasses updated technical specifications, alignment with modern sustainability and energy efficiency standards, and the clarification of ambiguous provisions to assist engineers and Urban Planning Services (YDOM).
Digital Land Bank: How building coefficient transfers will work
A pilot operation for the Digital Land Bank has been underway for the past three months. This modern spatial planning and urban balancing tool will enable the lawful and regulated transfer of building coefficients from properties that have been restricted — such as listed heritage buildings, public-use spaces, and archaeological zones — to other areas where additional construction is permitted. The digital platform will provide a digital registry of building rights (transfer title deeds) that can be purchased or used for new construction projects.
Unified Digital Map: All property information at your fingertips
Another ambitious initiative is the Unified Digital Map — a real-time accessible digital platform that will consolidate, integrate, and make publicly available all critical geospatial data relating to land use: from the Land Registry and Natura 2000 boundaries, to road layout plans, archaeological protection zones, forestry data, shoreline boundaries, and urban and spatial planning regulations, among others. With just a few clicks, citizens will be able to find out whether a plot of land they are interested in is buildable, what restrictions apply, and what the current regulatory framework provides for.
