Greek Business Law
A Handbook for Businesses and Legal Practitioners
11
Issues in Civil Law
3.6. Recordation of property transactions
(c) “Archaeological Sites” -
Restrictions are set by law to protect archaeologi-
cal monuments, traditional areas and historic sites; to permit construc-
tion in cities or villages or rural areas, which have been designated as sites
of archaeological interest or are located near archaeological or ancient
monuments, awritten consent of the archaeological service is required.
(d) “Environmental restrictions”
- The issuance of the so-called Energy Per-
formance Certificate for buildings which are used for residence, offices or
commercial purposes is required; the issue of this certificate is mandato-
ry for all newbuildings or for buildings that are renovated and is required
before the property can be leased or transferred.
(e) “Protection of the coast and beaches” -
The coast and beaches are proper-
ties of common use, which belong to the State. In this context, the con-
struction of buildings and other structures on the coast and on beaches
is prohibited, except for reasons of public interest; if individuals claim
ownership rights in areas designated on the coast or on beaches, then
these rights are expropriated in favor of the State. Consequently, all kinds
of buildings that have been constructed or erected without a permit on
the coast or on beachesmay be demolished.
3.6. Recordation of property transactions
Any change toproperty rights needs tobe recorded/registered inpublic registries.
Under the Greek Civil Code (arts 1192, 1193 and 1208 Civil Code), the acts that
must be recorded are (a)
inter vivos
transactions, including donations
mortis causa
,
according to which a real right is established, transferred or abolished; (b) adjudi-
cations or annexations or award of ownership or other real rights on the property;
(c) judicial distribution of a property; (d) inheritance acceptance; and (e) property
leases of a duration longer than nine (9) years. If the formalities of registration are
not observed, nochange toaproperty right isdeemed tohave takenplace.
There are two different systems of recording property rights in Greece, which
still operate in parallel, i.e. the old system of the land registry offices, which is
based on registration of individuals, and the relatively recent systemof the Hel-
lenic National Land Registry (
Ktimatologio
), which is yet to be completed and
is based on real estate listings. The objective is to abolish the system of trans-
fers andmortgages of the land registry offices and wholly replace it by the cen-
tralized system of the Hellenic National Land Registry. However, the process of
moving from one system to the other has proved to be much slower than en-
visaged and has failed the deadlines posed when it was first put to use some
fifteen (15) years ago.
