Audit Office criticizes retrospective planning permits granted by SYMEPA

On October 21, 2026, the Audit Office released special report EE-EY 30/2026, revealing serious structural flaws in the operations of the Council for the Study of Derogations (SYMEPA). Auditor General Andreas Papaconstantinou warned that the derogation mechanism, intended for exceptional cases, is evolving into a parallel planning system that bypasses official Development Plans. The report examined a sample of 17 applications from 2020 to 2023, identifying a pattern where the government retrospectively legalized unauthorized developments despite previous rejections and enforcement notices.

Notable cases include a warehouse in an industrial zone that operated as a supermarket despite rejections in 2012 and 2014, and the approval of 20 unauthorized luxury houses with swimming pools in the Famagusta district on February 8, 2023, shortly before the presidential elections. The Audit Office noted that such practices undermine the rule of law and create dangerous precedents, encouraging further illegal construction. Regarding the 20 unauthorized houses, the case was referred to the Independent Authority Against Corruption on June 27, 2024. The Audit Office emphasized that these decisions often involve overturning technical rejections based on implicit directives from the Council of Ministers, rendering established planning regulations ineffective.