Build to Plan

Stone Homes on Crete, along with the architect, can help design your house with additional or special features required, and will obtain the necessary permission for the build plan. We ensure that the building work meets with the government’s standards and regulations and with our experience you can rest assured your home will be as you imagined.

Costs – Legal and Taxes

Extra costs, additional to building or house purchase price, cover:

• lawyers fee and expenses
• notary public and land registry fees
• Transfer of property tax

The usual level of these extra costs are approximately:

• 3-5 % of building costs, for Build to Plan projects, OR
• 10% of house purchase price for property already built

The Lawyer's Duties

The lawyer will:

• obtain AFM number (VAT number) from the tax office. This is needed for tax returns concerning property and other purchases in Crete
• verify that good title exists for land and/or property, and that other legalities are satisfactory
• ensures with a notary public that house deeds are properly dealt with
• visit all public offices as required. The grant of Power of Attorney enables the lawyer to conduct all business on the clients behalf (including signing of contracts)

Money Transfers

Opening a bank account in Crete is simple (the only document required is a passport). There are various reputable organisations offering foreign exchange services competitive with clearing banks and we can advise how to contact these. An important point is that all receipts on money transfers should be kept safely for use later when completing tax returns in Crete. These will prove that the source of the money was the UK and not Greece.

Deposits

When an agreement to proceed with any land or property purchase is drawn up, a deposit 0f 10% is required.

IKA (Greek National Insurance)

IKA is the Public Service organisation which provides insurance for health cover for all Greek and other nationality individuals registered with them. Insurance contributions on behalf of workers of a building contract are paid each month to IKA by the building company, and these form part of the building costs which will be included in the building offer.

Licence to Rent

Under the Greek law a licence is needed to rent property and receive an income . The licence is issued by the Greek National Tourist Organisation and is called EOT licence. For a licence to be granted specific conditions and standards must be met. We can organise the licence application process as part of the Build to Plan schedule.