By T. Igoumenidi
A new impetus to finally complete a unified and functional land registry (cadastre) in Greece coincides with the World Bank’s involvement in the long-delayed project.
A new “road map” towards the decades-old goal is pending, even as tightening deadlines loom.
Greece is one of the few, if not the only, country in the developed world without a comprehensive land registry, a severe impediment to real estate development, a source of countless lawsuits and court challenges, as well as an environmental and zoning hazard.
A current priority is the preparation of an application, prepared by the relevant National Cadastre & Mapping Agency S.A., for Community funding of up to 85 million euros. The money will ostensibly fund the mapping of the remaining portion of Greek territory not included in previous cadastral surveys and the registering of deeds.
On its part, the World Bank’s involvement aims to offer assistance in terms of management know-how and quality control, particularly IT applications; expert advice on the final structure of local cadastre offices, which after 2020 will replace the current property title offices; as well as supporting state services in setting out the specifications and design of a “national infrastructure for geospatial data”, which in turn will exploit the digital data acquired and processed from cadastral surveys.
The long-awaited creation of a land registry began and was implemented at a snail’s pace between 1995 and 1999, focusing on the so-called “first generation” of cadastral surveys and registering 17.8 percent of property deeds. A second phase began some nine years later in 2008, registering 21.5 percent of deeds, followed by another cache of property deeds registered, totaling 18.3 percent of the total.
The fourth phase is now underway, with a decision taken in 2013 to map the remaining tracts of lands in the country and to register an estimated 16.5 million property deeds.
