Development Minister: “Romanians will NOT pay tenfold taxes, nor will their tax for enclosed balconies be doubled”

Development Minister Alexandru Stoica announced on Saturday that owners who enclosed their balconies without a permit would not be “hunted down” with fines and would not pay tenfold fees or increased taxes. The statements were made in the context of the provisions of the new Urban Planning Code, which requires owners to clarify the legal status of the works.

Stoica specified that Romanians have until August 2027 to put their documents in order. According to the minister, the purpose of the procedure is for homes to have a clear legal status, useful when selling, inheriting, or obtaining a loan, not to punish citizens.

The minister promised an analysis of the difficulties arising during the process of legalizing the works and argued that people should not be forced to bear unnecessary costs or make unnecessary trips for work carried out many years ago. He also specified that the problems generated by the insulation of apartment buildings by local councils would not be transferred to residents, since the permits and registration in the land registry were the responsibility of the local authorities.

Stoica stated that the new Urban Planning Code was adopted in the context of a PNRR milestone and that he would send Parliament amendments to correct situations considered absurd. On Friday, the minister had said that owners of balconies enclosed without an authorized design must legalize them, otherwise they risked fines.