In the municipalities or in private bodies, whom they will appoint can be assigned for a period of up to 50 years of repair, the management and utilization of the thousands of abandoned buildings both in Athens and in the densely populated areas of the cities throughout the territory. After this period the buildings will be returned to their rightful owners or heirs.
This is defined, among other things, by the bill of the Ministry of Environment for urban regeneration, which for the first time forms an institutional framework for abandoned buildings and their management.
Target – according to ministry sources – is to establish rules and define the intervention procedure for the restoration and reuse of entire buildings or parts of buildings in order to avoid or eliminate the risk to public health and safety caused by abandoned buildings. The ministry aspires that this action will upgrade the areas that have a large number of such buildings., while at the same time a large number of buildings will be protected which are classified as protected or monuments and their owners are unable to proceed with restoration work due to the high cost.
The draft law, which is expected to be submitted to Parliament in the near future, enables intervention to restore and reuse abandoned buildings or parts of buildings located in a Management Agency under specific conditions in an effort to achieve the golden ratio between the right of ownership, but also the inability or lack of interest of restoration on the part of the owners.
Locating the owners, however in many cases, will not be an easy task as one of the main reasons for abandoning buildings outside Multi-ownership is also an increased cost of their restoration.
The issue is particularly critical as it is estimated that there are buildings in Athens where the average number of co-owners exceeds them. 30, while in extreme cases, properties with more than… 200 co-owners are also identified. Even more complicated than the cases of completely and independently abandoned buildings, are the cases of buildings where out of the total useful spaces only the 10% or the 20%.
As captured in a research by a professor at the University of Thessaly, Nikos Triantaphyllopoulos for "Dianeosis": "The high rates of co-ownership that are found, are perhaps the most important factor that led to the devaluation of buildings. The existing buildings in the center of Athens were built on small plots. Above the 80% of plots have an area of up to 500 sq.m.. The buildings built inside them, were sold in installments, as small, autonomous independent units.
By hereditary succession, their co-owners multiplied. So today, the 55% of buildings belong to above 10 owners with complicated property status, where natural persons coexist, companies, institutions, the State and its various bodies. In large buildings, the phenomenon of co-ownership reaches extreme states: surface buildings are found 4.000 sq.m.. with more than 400 co-owners "is pointed out.
For this reason, the draft law stipulates that for any decision or intervention in co-ownership cases, it will be taken into account that the holder of a co-ownership percentage equal to or greater than 60% of the property.
The first step is counting
In order for the plan to move forward, the number of abandoned buildings should be known. For this reason creation is established Register of abandoned properties in each municipality.
The real estate will be registered in the register after the completion of the transfer to the Mortgage Office or to the Land Registry of the irrevocable decision of the court that accepts the acquisition of the management of the property. Municipalities will be required to make the register within 10 days after the adoption of the bill and then gradually enrich it either with real estate that they have identified or have been indicated by the citizens.
Based on the provisions of the bill, presented by "ethnos.gr", the management of an abandoned property may be transferred to its Administrator for a period of up to 50 years from the issuance of the relevant decision of the Single Member Court of First Instance of the seat of the property. After the expiration of the property management time by the Administrator, his management will return to his master.
If the co-owners of an abandoned property are located, they express their desire to repair it themselves, they will be given the opportunity to do so, but with control and a specific schedule, which if passed without the necessary interventions, the management of the building can be transferred to the relevant municipality, who after repairing it, will have the opportunity either the right or to grant it e.g.. for the housing of a sensitive social group or to proceed with its utilization.
In everything,in terms of finances the Administrator must return to the owner the income received from the development of the property, after withholding:
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its certified restoration and reuse costs,
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the municipal taxes and fees owed by the owner before the acquisition of the property management in the Municipality
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additional amount corresponding to 20% on the total of the above amounts as an administrative expense, and
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any encumbrances that have been served.
Especially in the case of listed buildings, the bill stipulates that the construction work for the restoration of the property must be completed within four or five years from the assumption of management by the Municipality or the Administrator. Otherwise, the owner can claim the return of the property management to him, upon request to the Court without being charged the costs of the Administrator up to that time.
In any case, the administrator is obliged to follow transparent procedures for recording actions, of its expenditure and revenue.
The regulations of the bill will also give the possibility of assigning technical works for the restoration of an abandoned building without an auction or a tender by the Municipality., to a company that has already been selected by the other co-owners of the building, if they have a percentage of ownership over it 50%.
It should be noted that similar discussions in the past had provoked reactions of a blow to the constitutional right to property and never proceeded.. The efforts of the past had "stumbled" on the fact of granting this opportunity to both private and investment organizations, issue which now seems to be solved as the project will proceed through the municipalities, which are considered the closest structure to citizens. As he clarifies, however, at "ethnos.gr" the Undersecretary of Environment, Nikos Tagaras: «Our goal is not to take ownership of anyone or to replace the owner of a property. The goal is to activate the procedures to intervene in abandoned buildings, among which there are also dangerous – and according to their characteristics to minimize the risks to public health and safety and to improve the image of cities. Our goal is to create the institutional framework for those who would like but can not restore their property. We do not want to be in conflict with anyone. Let's start with those who want to, give them a framework to start the process and then others will be motivated ", emphasizes.
The Ministry estimates that with this solution, on the one hand, care is taken to ensure the rights of the owners of abandoned properties, while at the same time the consequences of their inaction and choices are "cured", due to non-compliance by them, involuntarily or voluntarily, obligations arising from the right of ownership, at the expense of society as a whole.
Which are the buildings that will be included in the Register of abandoned real estate of the municipalities
The buildings that will be included in the Register will have to meet a number of conditions in order to be certified that they have been abandoned..
Abandoned properties can be described as both private, as well as public property, which are not used and are not presumed to be used.
These buildings should not have an active connection to utility networks (OK) for the last at least ten years, while they should not reside or be used for the exercise of legal activity for a corresponding period of 10 years.
In addition, they must meet one of the following conditions:
– The external appearance of the building and its surroundings to present ruined image, or for the property to have been issued hazard protocol,
– It is a source of infection or delinquency and threatens public health or safety,
– Needs major repairs,
– No repair license has been issued in the last ten years,
– It is under construction based on a building permit and has remained unfinished up to the stage of coatings during the last 15 years,
– It has not been declared in the Land Registry, if any
– No property declaration has been submitted (E9)
The last two conditions do not apply to real estate owned by the State.
Today no one knows the absolute number of abandoned buildings. Characteristic of their size, however, is that buildings in this category are calculated in about 2.000 only within the administrative boundaries of the Municipality of Athens. In fact, many of them are in extremely poor condition, even in danger of collapsing. The building stock of the center of the capital consists mostly of constructions dating back to the 60's, with the course of desolation of many buildings in Athens has in turn dragged entire neighborhoods.
Source: ethnos.gr
