Over the last couple of years, the Greek government has been collecting taxes and fines where they can.  Swimming pool fines have been the perfect opportunity to collate taxes.  Many people have bought stunning villas with pools, however, some might not be aware that to have a pool today, one needs to have the correct licence.   The Greek Government is clamping down heavily on property owners, who have a swimming pool, but without a pool licence. Extensive surveys were carried out recently on mainland Greece and one such survey proved a point. In an upmarket suburb, well-known for its expensive and prestigious homes, mostly with pools, there were only 350 registered swimming pools in the area.  Far too few for the upmarket area, so the government decided to use Google Earth photographs to check how many pools there actually were.  It was no surprise to discover a vast difference in how many there were and how many were registered.  In all they found 17,000 pools as opposed to the 350 registered.  Owners were then subjected to large fines.  Sadly though, after payment owners had a choice of either removing their pools, or apply and pay for a swimming pool licence.  It was announced at the time, that when the checks were finished on the mainland, the same procedures would be carried out on the islands too, concentrating first on the luxury home market first, although these checks are expected to cover all homes eventually.  So please remember that if you buy a property with a pool, ask to see the licence before signing on the bottom line. If you have already bought a Greek property and there is no licence for your pool, our recommendations would be to apply for one now rather than be found out and having to pay a huge fine.