«gov.gr is adding yet another very important innovation—free and fast access to the Land Registry—to its 1,138 applications, one year after it went live. From now on, all data regarding the country’s real estate will be accessible to property owners as well as to professionals involved in real estate transactions, eliminating red tape and hassle while, of course, saving time and resources,» noted Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the meeting held at the Maximos Mansion on the digitization of the Land Registry.
Online, «citizens will be able to view all the details of their properties, while professionals will only be able to access what is necessary for the performance of their duties,» the Prime Minister emphasized, adding that «with just a few clicks, the legal status of any property will be available—whether in preparation for a transfer or to assess its eligibility for a loan. Furthermore, all the information needed to issue financial documents will be accessible, and documents such as contracts will be registered, and applications for corrections to cadastral records will be submitted.».
«For more than 100,000 engineers, notaries, lawyers, and court clerks, this app saves time and reduces costs; and, of course, for government services, this translates into greater efficiency as well as an overall acceleration of the land survey process,» said Mr. Mitsotakis, noting that, as he put it, «for 23 full years, responsibility was left to the discretion of its employees, which meant costs, constant travel, and, of course, very frequent misunderstandings,» and «today, the transfer of a property without a specific ownership status takes at least two months to complete.».
«This complexity is unacceptable for 21st-century Greece; aside from the inconvenience it causes citizens, it also acts as a barrier to growth and investment. I believe that the application we are presenting today offers a solution to one aspect of this problem; it is part of a comprehensive real estate policy for our country, aspects of which, for example, include the transformation of 390 old land registry offices into 92 modern new cadastral offices,» he added, emphasizing that «all of this results in a coherent framework that can add significant value to the real estate holdings of Greeks.».
«This is a strong first step toward building a digital infrastructure; the idea— as you are well aware, that the land registry is essentially a digital service that must be accessible to everyone. And of course, what we’re doing—with one additional condition—is making this data available for free, in line with the government’s overall philosophy regarding government data,» emphasized Kyriakos Pierrakakis, Minister of State and Digital Governance, during the presentation.
«I will focus on four points: remote, tiered, free access 24 hours a week; real-time operation; data security—it’s open data; and data reliability. »Just imagine how much statistical data can be derived from this information—information that the Greek people have paid to have collected, and which we are now returning to them, providing it back free of charge,” noted George Stylos, Deputy Minister of Digital Governance responsible for Special Digital Projects and the Land Registry.
The Land Registry currently serves 43,000 lawyers, 52,000 engineers, 2,800 notaries, and 2,000 court bailiffs. The services for which citizens turn to the Land Registry include searching for real estate information (KAEK), information on correcting a registration, applications for the registration of contracts, applications for the issuance and receipt of certificates, receipt of deeds, and correction of errors (legal or geospatial).
The agency issues 9 types of certificates, 4 of which have been available digitally since October 2020, while the rest will be issued electronically by September 2021 nationwide. In 2020, 735,000 certificates and copies were issued—either digitally or in paper form—for the 33% category of rights. At the same time, there are four categories of registrable transactions (transfers, mortgages, preliminary notices, and court decisions), of which those involving attorneys have been supported digitally since July 2020, and those involving notaries since October 2020. In 2020, 148,000 registrable deeds were submitted for the 33% fee category.
Also participating in the meeting were Minister of State George Gerapetritis, Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister Theodoros Livaniou, Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister responsible for Government Coordination Akis Skertsos, and, via videoconference, Dimitris Stathakis, President of Ktimatologio S.A.; Stefanos Kotsolis, Chief Executive Officer; and executives from the company’s Information Technology Department.
The Prime Minister's full statement follows:
Good morning, everyone. First of all, one year after its launch, gov.gr is adding yet another very important innovation to its 1,138 applications: free and fast access to the land registry. From now on, all information regarding the country’s real estate will be accessible to property owners as well as to professionals involved in real estate transactions, eliminating red tape and hassle while, of course, saving time and resources.
That’s impressive; to be honest, I didn’t know that either, that since 1998, when the relevant law was passed, no decision had been issued specifying who would be allowed to access information from the records of each local land registry office. Thus, for 23 whole years, the responsibility was left to the discretion of its employees, which meant costs, constant travel, and, of course, very frequent misunderstandings.
Today, in collaboration with the Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE) and the bar associations, this system has been clarified, allowing citizens to view all details of their properties, while professionals will have access only to the information necessary for the performance of their duties. Bailiffs, for example, will receive information exclusively regarding properties in their region and only if they are carrying out a forced execution.
What does this new reality mean? It means that with just a few clicks, you’ll be able to find out the legal status of any property in preparation for a transfer, as well as its eligibility for a loan. Furthermore, all the information needed to issue financial documents will be accessible, and documents such as contracts will be registered, while applications for corrections to cadastral records will be submitted. I believe, Mr. Minister, that the benefits of this initiative are more than obvious. It ensures transparency and legal certainty for citizens by guaranteeing the validity of their title deeds. And, of course, for more than 100,000 engineers, notaries, lawyers, and court clerks, this application saves time and reduces costs; and for government services, it translates into greater efficiency as well as an overall acceleration of the cadastral survey.
Let me also make a brief, more general comment on issues related to the real estate market, because it is truly strange that in a country that attaches such great importance to private property and real property, this country still has one of the most complicated and time-consuming real estate transfer systems in the world. Today, the transfer of a property without a special ownership status takes at least two months to complete and, of course, becomes much more complex depending on the complexity of each specific transfer transaction. And I think we can agree that this complexity is unacceptable for 21st-century Greece; aside from the inconvenience it causes citizens, it also acts as a barrier to growth and investment.
I believe that the application we are presenting today offers a solution to one aspect of this problem; it is part of a comprehensive real estate policy for our country, aspects of which, for example, include the transformation of 390 old land registries into 92 modern new cadastral offices. And, of course, another aspect of this policy is a different tax treatment of real estate, with an average reduction of 22% in the ENFIA tax, a three-year suspension of the VAT on new infrastructure, and, of course, a 40% tax credit for the energy efficiency, functional, and aesthetic upgrades of existing buildings.
All of this points to a coherent framework that can add significant value to the real estate holdings of Greeks. We are not, therefore, far off, Mr. Minister, from overcoming bureaucracy in the real estate market for the benefit of the economy, investment, jobs, and ultimately for the benefit of all Greek citizens. We now turn to you to present the new app.
