In a ruling that affects thousands of homes on Crete, the Council of State has declared that any effort by owners to legalize illegally altered parts of their homes (known as "imiypaithrioi" or “semi-open” in Greek) or illegal buildings built from 1985 and after, is unconstitutional.

Sources said that Greece’s highest administrative court announced that legalizing these areas, which have been closed off and turned into rooms proper following the creation of a legal loophole in 1983, would "worsen citizens' quality of life" and would go against town planning.

The government announced recently that it would freeze for six months a law passed by New Democracy that allowed homeowners to pay a penalty to put these "semi-open" spaces in order, rather than legalize them fully.

PASOK said it would review the law over the next six months.