The words on the documents

The same table our reports read from, so the word in your report and the word in this guide are the same word. The transliteration is for the phone call with your lawyer, not for a search engine: say it out loud and you will be understood.

Cadastre, identity and survey

ΚΑΕΚ KAEK cadastral parcel code

The twelve-digit code that identifies one parcel on the national cadastre and nothing else; the only unambiguous way to name a Greek plot. Kept by: Ελληνικό Κτηματολόγιο

Κτηματολόγιο ktimatolóyio the national cadastre

The parcel-based public register of property rights that has replaced the old deed-based system across the country. Kept by: Ελληνικό Κτηματολόγιο

κτηματολογικό απόσπασμα ktimatoloyikó apóspasma cadastral extract

The official printout showing a parcel's KAEK, area, geometry and the rights registered on it at the moment it was issued. Kept by: Κτηματολογικό Γραφείο

ανάρτηση κτηματολογικών στοιχείων anártisi cadastral exhibition phase

The stage before a cadastre becomes final, when provisional parcel data is published for correction; boundaries and owners shown are not yet settled. Kept by: Ελληνικό Κτηματολόγιο

αγνώστου ιδιοκτήτη agnóstou idioktíti recorded as unknown owner

A parcel registered in the cadastre with no declared owner; correcting the entry is a procedure with its own deadline, not a formality. Kept by: Κτηματολογικό Γραφείο

πρόδηλο σφάλμα pródilo sfálma manifest error correction

The administrative route for fixing a plainly wrong entry without going to court. It exists in two separate registers with separate authorities: on the cadastre, before the Κτηματολογικό Γραφείο; on a ratified forest map, before the Διεύθυνση Δασών under ν. 3889/2010, without a hearing and without the objection fee. Everything outside it needs a judicial correction. Kept by: Κτηματολογικό Γραφείο / Διεύθυνση Δασών

τοπογραφικό διάγραμμα topografikó diágramma topographic diagram

The surveyor's drawing that ties the title to the actual ground, with coordinates tied to ΕΓΣΑ 87, frontage, adjacent owners and the statutory declarations printed on the sheet. A sale normally needs the statutory topographic diagram under article 283 paragraph 1 of law 5306/2026 (Government Gazette A 88/8 June 2026), carrying article 16 of law 5293/2026 (Government Gazette A 57/7 April 2026), which amended former article 5 paragraph 1 of law 651/1977. The current exception requires all three: a functioning Cadastre, a ratified and registered implementation act (πράξη εφαρμογής), and no boundary change in the transaction; rural out-of-plan land normally does not meet it. Where the separate title-area exception for out-of-plan, non-compliant and non-buildable land is considered under article 368 paragraph 5(c) of law 5306/2026, test it from the area stated in the title, not the cadastral polygon or this report's measurement. The current provisions also include article 368 of law 5306/2026, corresponding to former article 83 of law 4495/2017. Have the notary and surveyor confirm the applicable route from the title facts. A diagram carrying only the older law 4178/2013 declaration predates the current provisions and needs updating. Kept by: αγρονόμος τοπογράφος μηχανικός

ΕΓΣΑ '87 EGSÁ ogdónda eptá the Greek national coordinate system

The national reference system. A survey described as εξαρτημένο is tied to it, which is what lets the drawing be laid over the cadastre at all. Kept by: Ελληνικό Κτηματολόγιο

The right to build

αρτιότητα artiótita minimum plot qualification

Whether a plot qualifies to be built on at all: it has to meet the minimum size and shape the rules demand, and it has to have been created lawfully. It is the first of two separate tests and it says nothing on its own about whether you may build. Kept by: ΥΔΟΜ

οικοδομησιμότητα oikodomisimótita the actual right to build

Whether, once every rule is applied, a building is permitted on this plot. A plot can be άρτιο and still not οικοδομήσιμο. Kept by: ΥΔΟΜ

εντός σχεδίου entós schedíou in plan

Land inside an approved town plan, where the plan itself sets the minimum plot size and the building terms. Kept by: ΥΔΟΜ

εντός οικισμού entós oikismoú inside a settlement boundary

Land within a delimited settlement. The 1985 decree continues to govern until that settlement's own delimitation decree is published, under Law 5306/2026 article 247 paragraph 3; after publication, this chapter's settlement provisions govern, including the ZAO and PECh categories in article 234. The applicable decree, Gazette and category must therefore be established for this parcel rather than inferred from mapped buildings. Kept by: ΥΔΟΜ

εκτός σχεδίου ektós schedíou out of plan

Land outside any approved town plan or settlement boundary, where building rests on a national baseline area rule plus legal frontage rather than on a local plan. Kept by: ΥΔΟΜ

παρέκκλιση parékklisi derogation from the minimum area

The closed transitional route by which a plot smaller than the baseline may retain a pre-2020 derogation. Article 273 paragraph 1 of law 5306/2026 (Government Gazette A 88/8 June 2026), formerly article 40 of law 4759/2020, applies only where the qualifying filing was lodged by 9 December 2022; as amended by article 133 of law 5317/2026 (Government Gazette A 108/10 July 2026), the permit or pre-approval application on the building-terms-certificate route must be filed by 30 June 2027. Ask the ΥΔΟΜ for the protocol number and stamped date of the pre-9 December 2022 filing. Kept by: ΥΔΟΜ

πρόσωπο prósopo legal frontage

The length of boundary a plot has on a recognised public road. An easement gets your car in; it does not create πρόσωπο, and without πρόσωπο an out-of-plan permit stalls. Kept by: ΥΔΟΜ · ΣτΕ

κοινόχρηστη οδός koinóchristi odós recognised public road

A road in public use and recognised as such. A farm track, a field margin or a neighbour's goodwill is a different legal object with a different consequence. Kept by: Δήμος · ΥΔΟΜ

όροι δόμησης óri dómisis building terms

The numbers that cap what may be built: coverage, floor-area ratio, maximum height, setbacks. They are read for a specific plot, not for an area in general. Kept by: ΥΔΟΜ

συντελεστής δόμησης syntelestís dómisis floor-area ratio

The coefficient that, multiplied by the plot area, gives the total floor area you may build. The coefficient alone means nothing until that arithmetic is done. Kept by: ΥΔΟΜ

κάλυψη kálypsi site coverage

The share of the plot the building's footprint may occupy, separate from how many floors that footprint may carry. Kept by: ΥΔΟΜ

βεβαίωση όρων δόμησης vevaíosi óron dómisis certificate of building terms

The mandatory written statement for building-permit categories 1 and 2. Under Law 5306/2026 article 324 paragraph 2(b)(ba) (Government Gazette A 88/8 June 2026), the competent ΥΔΟΜ issues it within 10 days, records the applicable building terms and required approvals, and checks the survey. The provision sets no fixed expiry: the statement may be used only with the designing engineer's responsible declaration under Law 1599/1986 article 8 (Government Gazette A 75/11 June 1986) that the terms and conditions have not changed. Without the statement that permit check is incomplete. If it is wrong, ask the issuing ΥΔΟΜ to withdraw and reissue it; Law 2690/1999 article 4 paragraph 1 (Government Gazette A 45/9 March 1999) supplies the ordinary 50-day administrative reply clock. The 30-day, €50 appeal in Law 5306/2026 article 459 paragraphs 5–6 is limited to acts or omissions in a permit, building-licence or pre-approval procedure and does not automatically cover this statement. Kept by: ΥΔΟΜ

χρήσεις γης chrísis yis permitted land uses

What a plot may be used for, decided separately from how much may be built. A buildable plot can still be barred from the use you had in mind. Kept by: ΤΠΣ / ΓΠΣ · ΥΠΕΝ

ΤΠΣ / ΓΠΣ TIPÍESÍ / YIPÍESÍ the local plan for a municipality

The municipal plan that draws zones over the land, out-of-plan land included, and attaches permitted uses to each. Since article 10 of law 4759/2020 it is the Τοπικό Πολεοδομικό Σχέδιο (ΤΠΣ), now article 21 of law 5306/2026 (Government Gazette A 88/8 June 2026); the older ΓΠΣ and ΣΧΟΟΑΠ stay in force until a ΤΠΣ replaces them, and article 21 paragraph 13 reads Γενικό Πολεοδομικό Σχέδιο in older legislation as the ΤΠΣ. The ΤΧΣ of article 7 of law 4447/2016 is the same level under a name retired in 2020. Kept by: Δήμος · ΥΠΕΝ

παραδοσιακός οικισμός paradosiakós oikismós traditional settlement

A settlement under a designation decree that governs form, materials, height and sometimes colour, and adds an architectural approval step to any permit. Kept by: ΣΑ · ΥΠΕΝ

ΥΔΟΜ YDOM the municipal planning office

Υπηρεσία Δόμησης: the office that issues building terms and permits, and the one whose written answer settles the planning side of buildability. After the Καλλικράτης mergers one ΥΔΟΜ often serves several municipalities, so ask which is competent for that ΟΤΑ before you send anything. Kept by: Δήμος

The forest map

δασικός χάρτης dasikós chártis the forest map

The state map that assigns land a forest character by comparing 1945 aerial photography with a later reference set, 2007–2009 for most of the country. The complete official photo-pair legend is ΔΔ, ΔΑ, ΑΔ, ΑΑ, ΧΧ, ΧΑ and ΑΧ; the first letter is 1945 and the second is the later reference. The separate final-act codes are ΠΔ (forest), ΠΑ (non-forest) and ΠΧ (grassland). What grows there today does not decide the answer, and neither does anything that happened after the second set of photographs. Kept by: Διεύθυνση Δασών · Ελληνικό Κτηματολόγιο viewer

αναδασωτέα ή δασωτέα έκταση anadasotéa í dasotéa éktasi declared for reforestation or afforestation

The separate ΑΝ class in the forest-map legend, titled αναδασωτέες ή δασωτέες εκτάσεις. It can record restoration of destroyed forest or land designated for afforestation, so the flag alone does not establish a fire history and bare ground does not clear it; under Law 1892/1990 art. 114, covered structures and installations face demolition. Obtain the declaration and any lifting decision before treating the land as released. Kept by: Γενικός Γραμματέας Δασών · ΥΠΕΝ

αντίρρηση antírrisi objection to the forest map

The formal challenge to a parcel's forest character, filed under Law 3889/2010 article 15 within 105 days from the exhibition announcement, plus 20 days for permanent residents abroad, and heard by the ΕΠ.Ε.Α. A pending objection is a distinct legal state from a settled one. The reduced state-fee bands, all in square metres, are: up to 100 m² €5; over 100 to 1,000 m² €20; over 1,000 to 5,000 m² €45; over 5,000 to 10,000 m² €90; over 10,000 to 20,000 m² €175; over 20,000 to 100,000 m² €350; over 100,000 to 300,000 m² €700; and over 300,000 m² €1,650. One στρέμμα is 1,000 m². Use the area actually disputed, not automatically the whole parcel: 800 m² and exactly 1,000 m² are both in the €20 band. The scale is set by Joint Ministerial Decision 151585/323/2017 (Government Gazette B 347/8 February 2017), as halved by Decision ΥΠΕΝ/ΔΔΕΥ/74394/2692/2021 (Government Gazette B 3589/4 August 2021); it is the state charge only, before the forestry professional's fee. Kept by: ΕΠ.Ε.Α.

ΕΠ.Ε.Α. EPEA the forest-map objections committee

Επιτροπή Εξέτασης Αντιρρήσεων: the committee that decides objections against a posted forest map. Kept by: Αποκεντρωμένη Διοίκηση

κύρωση kýrosi ratification of the map

The act that makes a forest map binding. After objection hearings the Forestry Directorate has two months to correct and endorse the map under Law 3889/2010 article 19 paragraph 1. Annulment lies to the Council of State under article 19 paragraph 5, within sixty days of Gazette publication under Presidential Decree 18/1989 article 46 paragraph 1; the deadline is fixed and cannot be extended, and it is not two calendar months. The GetInfo result does not publish this stage. Kept by: Αποκεντρωμένη Διοίκηση

πράξη χαρακτηρισμού práxi charaktirismoú administrative characterisation act

The forestry service's individual ruling on whether a specific area is forest. It is the route where no forest map yet governs the area; once a map is posted, map procedures take over. Kept by: Δασαρχείο

Δασαρχείο dasarchío the forestry service

The local forest service, for individual acts on the ground such as a πράξη χαρακτηρισμού. It does not keep the forest map: the map, its ratification and the απόσπασμα belong to the Διεύθυνση Δασών of the Αποκεντρωμένη Διοίκηση. Kept by: Αποκεντρωμένη Διοίκηση

δασολόγος dasolóyos forestry engineer

The professional who reads a forest-map problem and runs an objection. A civil engineer is not a substitute for one here. Kept by: ΓΕΩΤΕΕ

Coast, water and hazard

αιγιαλός aiyialós the foreshore zone

The strip the sea reaches in its largest ordinary winter waves. It is public property, building on it is barred, and in many places the line has never been formally delimited. Kept by: Κτηματική Υπηρεσία Δημοσίου

παραλία paralía the beach zone behind the foreshore

The zone that may be established landward of the αιγιαλός to serve access to it. It is a second line, with its own consequences, and buyers routinely conflate the two. Kept by: Κτηματική Υπηρεσία Δημοσίου

οριοθέτηση oriothétisi formal delimitation

The act that fixes a boundary line — of the foreshore, of a stream — on the ground and on the map. Undelimited means the constraint exists but its exact position does not. Kept by: Αποκεντρωμένη Διοίκηση

ρέμα réma watercourse

A water channel, natural or engineered, dry for most of the year or not. There is no single statutory setback in metres: what binds comes from the delimitation act, a ΖΟΕ or a local decree, so a distance quoted without its instrument is worth nothing. An undelimited ρέμα is its own category of uncertainty, structurally the same problem as an undelimited αιγιαλός. Kept by: Αποκεντρωμένη Διοίκηση · ΥΠΕΝ

ζώνη δυνητικά υψηλού κινδύνου πλημμύρας zóni plimmýras zone of potentially high flood risk

An area identified by the preliminary flood-risk assessment where significant flood risk exists or can reasonably be foreseen, designated per υδατικό διαμέρισμα at the scale of a whole catchment under άρθρο 4 παρ. 5 of the 2010 ΚΥΑ. It says something about the landscape a plot sits in, not about the plot's own boundary or a modelled water line. Kept by: ΥΠΕΝ · Σχέδια Διαχείρισης Κινδύνων Πλημμύρας

Natura 2000 Natoúra the EU protected-areas network

Designation adds an environmental assessment step and site-specific terms. It is not an automatic building ban, and treating it as one costs buyers good plots. Kept by: ΟΦΥΠΕΚΑ · ΥΠΕΝ

αρχαιολογική ζώνη Α / Β archaioloyikí zóni archaeological Zone A / Zone B

Zone A excludes building; Zone B permits it under conditions and an extra approval. A formally designated zone is a different thing from a region that happens to have ruins. Kept by: Εφορεία Αρχαιοτήτων

σεισμική ζώνη seismikí zóni seismic zone

One of three national zones setting the design ground acceleration. Construction era usually matters more to a buyer than the zone does. Kept by: ΟΑΣΠ · ΕΑΚ

What already stands

αυθαίρετο afthaíreto unauthorised structure

An unauthorised construction or planning breach as defined by Law 5306/2026 article 366 (Government Gazette A 88/8 June 2026). Article 367 paragraph 1 prohibits and makes absolutely void a transfer or creation of a real right in affected property unless a statutory exception or completed regularisation applies; shifting the future cost to the buyer is not a substitute for clearing that gate. Kept by: ΥΔΟΜ · ΤΕΕ

τακτοποίηση taktopoíisi regularisation

The statutory scheme that places unauthorised work completed by 28 July 2011 into a category under Law 5306/2026 article 383 (Government Gazette A 88/8 June 2026). Under article 384, payment suspends demolition, sanctions and collection of fines for the period the Code gives, or produces a permanent demolition exemption, depending on that category. It is not automatically a legalisation permit. Kept by: ΥΔΟΜ · ΤΕΕ

Ταυτότητα Κτιρίου taftótita ktiríou Electronic Building Identity

The electronic file whose permits, drawings, energy certificate, actual-condition plans and other contents are specified by Law 5306/2026 article 343 (Government Gazette A 88/8 June 2026). For a category II building or separate divided property, article 344 paragraph 2 requires filing at transfer and compulsory attachment of the identity declaration to the deed. Kept by: ΤΕΕ

βεβαίωση μηχανικού vevaíosi michanikoú engineer's certificate of legality

The engineer's statement that must be attached to an inter vivos transfer or creation of a real right, including for land without a building, under Law 5306/2026 article 368 paragraph 1 (Government Gazette A 88/8 June 2026). It confirms that no unauthorised work exists or that the recorded work falls within the stated route, and lasts two months from signature under article 368 paragraph 6. Do not sign without it: where an unauthorised work or planning breach remains, the linked prohibition in article 367 paragraph 1 makes the affected transfer absolutely void. Kept by: ΤΕΕ

Title

δουλεία διόδου doulía diódou right of way

A right to cross someone else's land. It solves access and does not create frontage, which is why a plot with a perfect right of way can still fail the permit test. Kept by: Συμβολαιογράφος · Κτηματολόγιο

εξ αδιαιρέτου ex adiairétou undivided co-ownership

Shared ownership in ideal shares rather than in marked parts, common among heirs. Every co-owner must sign, and one missing heir stops a sale. Kept by: Συμβολαιογράφος

προσημείωση υποθήκης prosimeíosi ypothíkis pre-notation of mortgage

A conditional charge securing a loan, entered before a full mortgage. It is a different instrument from a υποθήκη and is cleared differently. Kept by: Κτηματολογικό Γραφείο

Tax, price and paperwork

αντικειμενική αξία antikeimenikí axía objective (tax) value

The state's formula value for a property. In-plan property starts from a zone price; out-of-plan land is calculated on form AA-GIS from the municipality's Initial Basic Value under POL.1310/30.12.1998, not from a zone covering the field. The taxable base is the higher of the deed price and the objective value. Kept by: ΑΑΔΕ

τιμή ζώνης timí zónis zone price

The per-square-metre starting figure for a valuation zone, published by the tax authority and looked up on its value maps. Kept by: ΑΑΔΕ

φόρος μεταβίβασης ακινήτων fóros metavívasis property transfer tax

The tax due on transfer, calculated on the higher of contract price and objective value. Budget it from the higher number, not the one you negotiated. Kept by: ΑΑΔΕ

ΕΝΦΙΑ ENFÍA the annual property tax

The yearly tax on holding Greek property. It arrives every year you own the land, which is what turns a cheap plot into a running cost. For a transfer for value, article 60 paragraph 1 of law 5104/2024 (Government Gazette A 58/19 April 2024) requires the ENFIA certificate to cover the five years preceding the transfer; paragraph 2 requires the registrar or cadastral office to refuse registration of a deed that omits it. Kept by: ΑΑΔΕ

ΤΑΠ TAP municipal property duty

Τέλος Ακίνητης Περιουσίας, collected through the electricity bill. Small, easy to miss, and its arrears surface at the notary. Kept by: Δήμος

στρέμμα strémma stremma (1,000 m²)

The Greek land unit: 1,000 m², a tenth of a hectare, about a quarter of an acre. Rural land is quoted per στρέμμα and the figure is meaningless without buildability.

ΑΦΜ AFM Greek tax number

The tax registration number a foreign buyer must obtain before buying. Getting it is routine; discovering you need it at the notary is not. Kept by: ΑΑΔΕ

πληρεξούσιο plirexoúsio power of attorney

The notarial authority letting a lawyer act for a buyer who is abroad. Drawn up wrongly it fails at the worst moment, at signature. Kept by: Συμβολαιογράφος

Utilities

ΔΕΔΔΗΕ DEDDÍE the electricity distribution operator

The operator that quotes and builds a connection. Distance, poles and any transformer are what turn a remote plot's connection into a five-figure line. Kept by: ΔΕΔΔΗΕ

ΔΕΥΑ DEYA the municipal water and sewerage company

The utility that answers whether mains water and a sewer actually reach a plot, and on what terms. Kept by: Δήμος

στεγανός βόθρος steganós vóthros sealed cesspit

A watertight tank with no absorption, emptied by tanker. Lawful where absorption is not, and the tanker is an annual cost that changes a plot's economics. Kept by: ΥΔΟΜ · Περιφέρεια

σηπτικός βόθρος siptikós vóthros septic tank with absorption

A septic tank discharging to an absorption bed. Whether it is lawful on a given plot depends on soil, groundwater and distance rules, not on preference. Kept by: ΥΔΟΜ · Περιφέρεια

γεώτρηση yeótrisi borehole

A drilled water well requiring a water-use permit from the Διεύθυνση Υδάτων of the Αποκεντρωμένη Διοίκηση, and increasingly restricted in water-stressed areas. An unlicensed one is an inherited liability. Kept by: Αποκεντρωμένη Διοίκηση · Διεύθυνση Υδάτων

Who decides

ΣτΕ Sté the Council of State

Greece's supreme administrative court. Its rulings are why the frontage requirement for out-of-plan building is read as strictly as it now is. Kept by: ΣτΕ

Αποκεντρωμένη Διοίκηση apokentroméni dioíkisi the decentralised administration

The regional arm of central government that ratifies forest maps, declares reforestation and delimits shorelines and streams.

Εφορεία Αρχαιοτήτων eforía archaiotíton the regional Ephorate of Antiquities

The service that can restrict or halt building near a site, and that must be consulted before digging in a designated zone. Kept by: ΥΠΠΟ

ΑΑΔΕ AADE the independent tax authority

The authority that publishes the objective-value maps and collects transfer tax and ENFIA. Kept by: ΑΑΔΕ

ΦΕΚ FEK the Government Gazette

Φύλλο Εφημερίδας της Κυβερνήσεως, where a law or decree is published. Series Α΄ carries laws, Δ΄ carries the town-planning and settlement decrees. A building rule quoted without its ΦΕΚ cannot be checked. Kept by: Εθνικό Τυπογραφείο