Large number of unresolved cases, due to incomplete documentation
Monitored municipalities: Veles, Kriva Palanka, Negotino and Sveti Nikole.
Large number of submitted initiatives to legalize illegally built objects remain unresolved. On average, the unresolved cases account for between 20 and 42 percent of all submitted initiatives. The main reason for inaction is the incomplete documentation, primarily due to lack of prepared or submitted project briefs for the illegally built objects.
There are also unresolved issues with property of related real estate, failures to fit within existing spatial plans, changes in the competent commissions, understaffed offices, unavailability of building permit seekers, ongoing litigations, etc.
Between 2011 and the end of 2018, when the legal provision that allowed for submission of legalisation initiatives expired, most requests – a total of 10,000 – were submitted in the Municipality of Veles.
This municipality proved to be the most efficient and with 80% of the cases submitted by citizens resolved.
In Kriva Palanka, a total of 5,030 initiatives were submitted, and 3,191 (63%) were resolved.
In Sveti Nikole, out of 3,467 cases, 2,000 were resolved (58%).
The Municipality of Negotino completed the procedures and resolved 2,762 (62%) out of a total of 4,456 submitted requests.
Majority of initiatives in Veles and Sveti Nikole were resolved in favour of the citizens that filed the requests.
In Kriva Palanka and Negotinо, only about 40-45% of all procedures were resolved in favour of the citizens, while the rest were dismissed or terminated.
With exception of Kriva Palanka, there were no registered instances of demolition of illegally built objects. In Kriva Palanka, 37 illegal objects were demolished, mostly auxiliary buildings, sheds and garages.
In addition to the incomplete documentation, the main obstacles and difficulties faced by municipal administrations when legalising illegal buildings was the latter’s failure to fit in and align with the existing urban spatial plans.
That problem is most serious in Kriva Palanka, which has failed for years to review the existing and adopt new urban spatial plans because of the planned transport infrastructure along Corridor 8.
The municipal administrations claim that all cases are reviewed in a non-selective manner and that all “proper” requests were resolved within a reasonable period of time.
*The presented data is as of the end of June 2021
Read the full report Municipalities and Legalization of Illegal Construction
