Bill for acquisition of occupied lands she faces real problems that were created in difficult times for the state and the Greeks. However, there are provisions that cause concern, since it is possible to expiate encroachments that occurred later than the general deadlines established by the bill.

Gray areas in the bill

Prokopis Hadjinikolou

Window for legitimation private ownership of public lands which were not violated sometime in the distant past, in the conditions of national disaster and impoverishment, but also later, in the not so distant 1990s or even quite recently, often on forged documents and underground transactions with public services, the bill opens the Ministry of Finance, which was given for public discussion.

At the same time, he reveals the state, which not only was once unable to protect its property, but even today accepts and “legitimizes” for a fee acts of forgery against it. There are many examples:

1. In the context of the public consultation, the question arises as to whether it is possible for him to buy the seized land on which he built the block of flats with a building permit after 31 December 1991. How did he get a building permit on land for which he didn’t even have a title deed?

2. Paragraph 2 of article 7 of the draft law states that in the event that the applicant was listed as the owner of public property in the first cadastral records and the claim was filed by the Greek state or the deadline for filing the claim has not expired, he has the right to apply for redemption without complying with the conditions determining the period ownership of the property (30 or 40 years depending on the circumstances) with a 50% discount. In other words, the one who turned to the Land Register and declared himself the owner of public property, and the state understood this and took measures against him, can now buy it back and at half price.

3. There is a special provision for Rhodes in the bill because it is a special case. There, during the Italian occupation, the island was registered in 1915 and 1928. Many citizens, for reasons related to the conditions of that time, did not re-register, and therefore their property was registered as state property. Since the Greek state “inherited” the cadastre from the Italian administration, citizens who declared their property in only one of the two cadastres found themselves in the courts, demanding it from the state. In the 1980s, a law was passed to address this problem. However, others also took advantage of this opportunity. They forged titles to unclaimed state lands, declared them to the Land Registry, no government agency verified the data, and then sold them. Today, even hotels have been built on such lands. By the bill, all these, like the sins of another era, are finally forgiven.

Whoever went to the Land Register and declared himself the owner of public property, and the state noticed him and took measures against him, can now redeem it at half price.

four. If someone built an industry, a livestock complex, or a hotel on their land that turned out to be… small for their business plans and encroached on adjacent public property, there is a solution. While he encroached on him and built on him until 07/28/2011 (the last day of settlement by any). The bill gives the right of redemption in the amount of double the objective value plus 25% for the objects. In particular, the provision states that “parts of immovable property that are privately owned by the state and administered by the Ministry of Finance, within the boundaries of which parts of the same immovable property of handicraft, industrial, agricultural, livestock and tourism enterprises are erected, objects of all kinds, constituting a single functional complex with the remaining facilities of the expanding company, are sold directly to these companies, upon their respective request, in exchange equal to 200% of the objective value plus 25% on the facilities.

These objects, as follows from the bill, are not subject to the terms and conditions applicable to other objects that are encroached upon. However, these expropriations are only permitted if the part to be alienated to the neighboring business is uneven and not subject to development and is necessarily included in the neighboring uniform and buildable property of the enterprise.

“Disclosed”

The bill, however, leaves some open:

1. Violators of municipal lands. As noted in the context of the consultation, “Article 1 of the draft law allows the acquisition of state property, which has been encroached upon by private individuals for a long time, under the conditions described in other articles of the draft law. However, the possibility of redemption is limited to state property and does not include property belonging to other entities of public interest, such as, for example, OTA of the first degree, etc. The owners of such objects, in my opinion, should be given the opportunity to buy them.”

2. The heirs of the invaders also stipulate that the seized land can be redeemed when the residence being built is the main and only one. “In the event that it is interpreted in accordance with the current Law 1078/1980 (Provisions on the first place of residence), then the circle of beneficiaries is reduced to a minimum, since it will not be able to include peers (siblings – surviving spouses)) from the first owner. Therefore, the implementation of the provision will create more problems than it is intended to solve,” someone comments.In all gray areas, they say from the Ministry of Finance, there will be interventions either with corrections to the provisions or with decisions that will be published.

“Acquisition only after urban planning”

Giorgos Lialiou

Yiannis Michael, Vice President of the Hellenic Society for the Environment and Culture (ELLET), describes the agreement, which will allow the acquisition of seized state lands, as “hunting for votes.” According to him, these norms “deify” lawlessness, while contributing to the further degradation of the suburban area.

“These are old sins that we can’t seem to let go of,” says Mr. Michael “K.” “I believe that the arguments given by the Ministry of Finance in support of this rule are insufficient. First of all, we cannot use the income in favor of the state treasury. Government revenues should be based on taxation and good governance, not legalization of illegal activities. We could discuss this scheme only for objects in urban areas. However, it is unthinkable to accept unplanned sites as a fait accompli, because in this way we bypass all the concepts of spatial planning. The only case in which the acquisition of such land in suburban areas should be accepted is if the property is intended solely for agricultural cultivation, without the possibility of construction. Mr. Michael points out a contradiction in the rules regarding the separation of offenders.

“Here are the paradoxes of the Greek state, that the intruder has a title and that the ransom agreement receives a special position for him. But how were these titles obtained? Obviously, there was a serious gap in state control, which, instead of being eliminated, is recognized as the responsibility of the state. In addition, I find it paradoxical that there are special conditions for the unemployed, the disabled, or those with many children. Is this a welfare policy? In addition, it is irritating that the law encourages illegal business activities, especially tourism. We live in a period of eutrophication of tourism, which has a number of favorable conditions. The phenomenon of overtourism does not seem to be a problem for the state.”

According to Mr. Michael, any possibility of buying expropriated land should not be considered until the city planning is completed. “Currently, a local urban planning training program is being implemented, which will be extended to most parts of the country. Urban planning plans define land use in unplanned areas. Situations that weaken planning, encourage waste of land, sprawl of construction, favor unauthorized construction, should not be legalized. But I am very afraid that the direction of the bill is a hunt for votes. And I have no doubt that when it is submitted to Parliament, everyone will agree for it and even some amendments will be made.”