Real Estate Terminology

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In and Out of Zone

It concerns properties that are outside the city plan but within or outside the HOUSEHOLD AUDIT ZONE (HAZ). Properties that are inside the HAZ are subject to special building conditions while those that are outside the HAZ are subject to general building conditions.

Objective value

It is the value resulting from the multiplication of the starting price of the value of a property by coefficients set by the State, which relate to characteristics of the property, e.g. floor, surface, age, etc.

Surplus value

The term surplus value refers to the difference between the purchase price and the sale price of a property after deducting the inflation adjustments applicable to the period between the purchase and sale.

Zone

It is generally considered to be a part of a municipality or municipality district or residential area which according to the price lists has a flat price (ZP).

Zone Price (ZP)

It is the flat starting price for each property located in this area and it refers to the total value of the building and plot corresponding to one square meter (m2) of surface of a new dwelling or apartment on the first floor of the building with frontage on one street only and with a Commerce Factor equal to the unit.

Land Use Factor (LUF)

It is the coefficient that expresses the possibility of constructing on the plot and usually coincides with its coefficient of construction (CC).

Millimeters on the Plot

The millimeters on the plot are allocated to the horizontal / vertical ownership of a property by establishing the horizontal / vertical ownership and show co-ownership on the plot of these properties. Usually, the larger the size of the property, the more millimeters it has on the plot in which it is located.

Marketability Factor (MF)

It is the factor (greater than or equal to the unit) that shows the marketability of a road or road segment of a particular zone.

Plot Factor (PF)

It is the factor that determines the value of the plot, less than or equal to or greater than the unit (1).

Building factor

This is a factor set by the State which, multiplied by the area of ​​each plot, gives us the total of the square meters that can be reconstructed on it. For example: Plot Size: 400 sq.m. and Building Factor: 0.80

Authorized Building: 400 x 0.80 = 320 sq.m.

Coverage Factor

This is a factor determined by the State, which multiplied by the area of ​​each plot gives us the maximum area of ​​coverage of the plot by the building. For example: Plot Size: 400 sq.m. and Coverage factor: 70%

400 x 70% = 270 sq.m. (are the square meters that the building is allowed to cover).

Ground floor Utilization Coefficient (K).

It is the factor that determines the extent of utilization of the ground floor of a property. It depends on the land use factor (LUF) and the marketability factor (MF) of the plot.

Price of Plot (PP).

It is the value per square meter (m2) of plot that has a frontage on one street only, with MF = 1.0. It is a conjunction of the Zone Price (ZP) and the land use factor (LUF).

Property façade

 Facades of a property are considered those sides which have got openings (window, door or shop window) on a street, gallery or on the unbuilt space of the plot. As for a plot, facades are considered to be those sides which are adjacent to communal spaces.

Property surface

It is the area in square meters (m2). In the case of buildings, their area including the external walls is considered to be their surface. If the surface also includes the communal spaces (gross surface), the gross surface reduced by ten per cent (10%) is considered to be their surface, that is, multiplied by 0.90. Semi-outdoor spaces are not included in the surface.

Semi-Outdoor Spaces

Space of ​​the apartment that is not included in its surface and it is surrounded by a wall of a certain height (approx. 1,50 m).

Pilotis

The free (open) surface of the ground floor on which the building is constructed. Parking spaces are usually created on the pilotis, which belong to horizontal properties (apartments) located in this block of flats.

TRANSFER

Transaction

The term "transaction" refers to the reciprocal contract with which the one (seller) transfers ownership over a property and hands it down and the other (buyer) pays the agreed price.

Parental gift

Parental gift is called the donation that takes place between parents and children and is subject to special tax rates.

Donation

Gratuitus act by which the one (donor) transfers ownership over a property and hands it down to the other (grantor) without an exchange.

Sublease or subletting

The lease of the property by the tenant to a third party and if the opposite was not agreed to in the original contract of lease. The tenant is liable to the owner for the fault of the third party.

Declarations to the Tax Office

Prior to the drawing up and signing of a notarial act constituting, transferring or abolishing a right to real property, relevant declarations shall be submitted to the tax office in order to pay any resulting tax. These are:

• The Declaration of Transfer Tax, exchange, distribution, establishment of abolishment of horizontal / vertical property usage is submitted to the property’s area tax office and accompanies the copy which is intended for the Land Registry.

• The Donation / Parental gift tax declaration is submitted to the donor’s / provider’s residence area tax office and is attached to the notarial act.

• The Inheritance Tax Declaration is submitted to the tax office of the area of the deceased’s last residence and it accompanies the copy intended for the Land Registry.

Transcription

All notarial acts constituting, transferring or abolishing a right to real property are subject to transcription in the Land Registry’s transcription books of the area of the real property. Subsequent to the transaction, the constitution, transfer or abolishment of this right is completed.

Land Registries

Offices under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice, where mortgages, annotations and their eliminations are registered, as well as transfers of contracts which constitute, abolish or transfer property rights.

Real property rights

 

Real property rights are the legal forms of human power over economic goods, that is, the rights which under the Code (CC 973) confer direct and universal power over everything. Property rights are ownership, servitude, pawns and mortgages.

Ownership (full ownership)

It is direct, universal and absolute power of the person over the object.

Usufruct

It is the usufructuary's property right to use and profit from an object belonging to another, while retaining its substance.

The usufruct unless otherwise specified is non-transferable. However, it is possible to transfer the exercise of the usufruct right for a period that cannot exceed its validity period (CC 1166).

Housing

It is the real and exclusive right of the beneficiary to use another person’s building or apartment as a residence (CC 1183). This right is set and it is abolished after the beneficiary’s death.

Bare ownership

It is the real right that remains when full ownership is deprived of the usufruct right, that is, the use and profit of the object, and is thus limited to the power of its disposal.

 

Servitude on real property

Servitude on real property, under Article 11.18 CC, is the limited real estate right over a property that is constituted to serve the needs of another property while providing benefits to the owner of the time being. The property in favor of which the servitude is established is called dominant, while the one against which the servitude is established is called servient.

Limited personal servitude

Limited personal servitude is the real property right over another person’s property that is established in favor of a particular person, giving it some power or utility.

Occupancy

It is the physical power of the person over the object that is exercised by the owner’s approval (CC 974).

Pledge

It is the real property right on another person’s movable object, which gives the pledgee the power to satisfy himself preferentially by its value (CC 1209).

The pledge can also be set up at an ideal share of an object, either by contract or by law.

Mortgage

It is the real property right to a foreign (to the lender) real estate to secure a certain claim with preferential satisfaction of the lender by the property (CC 1257-1345).

Getting a mortgage requires a title granting a mortgage right and registering with the mortgage book.

Enforced expropriation

It is the deprivation of the ownership of a person by a unilateral act of the Administrative Authority in return for payment of a legally defined compensation for public benefit provided by law. Declaration of enforced expropriation is an individual administrative act, usually by a joint decision of the competent (depending on the purpose of expropriation) Minister and the Minister of Finance and it is ensued by the publication of the decision in the Government Gazette. The effectuation of the expropriation is ensued by the payment to the beneficiary of the compensation determined by a court decision or fraudulent publication in the Government Gazette of the deposit of the compensation at the Consignments and Loans Fund.

Horizontal Property

Horizontal Property or floor property is the separate exclusive and self-existent ownership of a floor or a floor apartment, with a certain percentage of compulsory co-ownership in the land and the common and undivided parts of the building.

Vertical Property

Vertical ownership or co-ownership is the separate (divided, exclusive) ownership of a building that is built on the same plot with one other or other buildings, combined with co-ownership on that plot as well as on the common parts of the buildings and with the participation of the beneficiaries of the individual vertical properties.

Plot

It is any land that is within the approved street plan or within the boundaries of a residential area without an approved plan.

Plot Fragmentation

The division of a plot into several smaller plots. Fragmentation of a plot is permitted when the created smaller plots are all complete and fit for building on, in accordance with the existing terms of town planning.

NATURAL PERSON

The natural person is a man. The person begins to exist as soon as he is born alive and ceases to exist with his death. As to the rights conceded to him, the one yet unborn is considered to be born if he is born alive. (Articles 35 and 36 CC)

LEGAL PERSON

A union of persons aiming to a particular purpose, as well as a total of property reserved for a particular purpose, may acquire personality if the conditions laid down by the law are fulfilled. The personality thus acquired is the legal person. The constituent act, memorandum or organization of the legal person shall be drawn up in writing. The legal person, unless otherwise specified in the constituent act or the memorandum, shall have its registered office at the place where its administration is located. (Articles 61, 63 and 64 CC).

 

OWNERSHIP ON PROPERTY

FULL OWNERSHIP

The concept of full ownership refers to a property for which there is no usufruct right by another beneficiary.

Full ownership varies in percentages up to 100% of the property, thus the owner is called the exclusive owner of the property.

In the case of an owner’s lower percentage of full ownership over a property there is a co-ownership, that is, one or more co-owners, each by their percentage, so that the total percentage of all the co-owners is 100% (or 1000%).

BARE OWNERSHIP

Bare ownership exists in real property when, in addition to ownership, there is a usufruct by a beneficiary other than the bare owner. And in the case of bare ownership this may be exclusive or there may be a co-ownership in the differentiations mentioned above in the case of full ownership.

SOCIETY

If the right belongs to more than one in unison, unless the law provides otherwise, there is a society among them in ideal parts. In case of doubt, it is considered that these parts are equal. (Article 785 CC)

CO-OWNERSHIP

If the ownership of the object belongs to more than one jointly in ideal parts, the terms on society apply. (Article 1113 CC).

AB INDIVISO (Jointly)

There is a joint ownership of a property when more than one owner jointly acquire the property in question both because of a contract (e.g. in case of purchase) and by law (e.g. in case of joint inheritance).

EXCLUSIVE USE

A property may have in its exclusive use a space (vacant lot or building) that would otherwise be a common space. This space is virtually communal and with the creation of horizontal ownership it is given to the exclusive use of a horizontal property.

 

PERSONAL SERVITUDES

 

1. RIGHT OF RESIDENCE

The personal servitude of residence constitutes of the real and exclusive right of the beneficiary to use as a residence another person’s building or apartment.

The right of residence is constituted by a notarial document transcribed at the Registry. It can also be constituted by a will or a donation because of death. One may also be entitled to this personal servitude with regular or extraordinary usucaption.

The right of residence is non-transferable and is depreciated upon the beneficiary's death. (Articles 1183 and 1185 CC).

2. USUFRUCT

The concept of usufruct is given in Article 1142 of the Civil Code.

In real estate, the personal servitude of usufruct consists of the usufructuary's real right to make full use and profit of another person’s property while maintaining its substance intact. Usufruct (Article 1143 CC) is constituted by legal act or by usucaption. The terms for the usucaption of real property and for the transfer of their ownership by agreement shall apply accordingly also on the constitution of their usufruct. Usufruct can also be constituted on an ideal part of the property (Article 1144 CC).

The usufruct, unless otherwise specified, is non-transferable. ( Its use can be transferred to another for a period not exceeding the duration of the usufruct, subject to the term of Article 1164 CC). (Article 1166 CC).

The usufruct, unless otherwise specified, is depreciated by the death of the usufructuary. Usufruct in favor of a legal person ceases to exist along with him. (Article 1167 CC).

The usufruct is depreciated as soon as it is merged with the ownership in the same person unless a mortgage has been registered with the usufruct. u917 The usufruct is also depreciated by a unilateral declaration by the beneficiary to the owner that he resigns, which is done by notarial act and transcription. (Articles 1168 and 1169 C.C.)

REAL PROPERTY SERVITUDE

A right on a real property may be acquired in favor of the owner of another property which gives him some benefit. In real property servitude, the owner of the servient has the burden of either tolerating some use by the owner of the dominant or omitting certain actions which he would be entitled to attempt as owner. (Articles 1118 and 1119 CC).

Real property servitude is in particular servitude of street (passage), channeling or sewage or water pumping or watering breds of the dominant, or grazing or timber, etc. (Article 1120 CC).

Real property servitude is constituted by legal act or by usucaption. The terms for the usucaption of real property and its transfer by agreement shall apply accordingly also on the constitution of real servitude. (Article 1121 CC).

DOMINANT PROPERTY

Dominant is the benefited property whose owner is entitled to real servitude on another property, which is considered to be encumbered by the existence of such real servitude and is the servient property.

REDISTRIBUTION OF LAND

Redistribution is the removal, by act of the State, of ownership from the owners of real property of an area and the parceling of these properties between the same owners, in order to better utilize the agricultural land (rural land redistribution) or residential land (urban land redistribution).

In the case of agricultural land redistribution, if this has already been validated at the time of filing the declaration, the new properties are declared by their beneficiaries as they have arisen by the redistribution.

In case there is a pending redistribution validation, but the occupancy of the new parcels has been granted to the beneficiaries, these new parcels are declared when all arrangements are made for the E9 declaration.

However, in the event that the agricultural land redistribution has not yet taken place, that is, the relevant judgement is passed and the procedures have started, but without having granted occupancy to the new ownerships, the old properties are declared by their owners (reforestable).

USUCAPTION

Usucaption is an original way of acquiring ownership of an object and is therefore a real right.

The acquisition of real estate by usucaption, regular or extraordinary is examined here.

1. REGULAR USUCAPTION

He who has, with the owner’s approval, the occupancy in good faith and with a legal title of a property for a decade, becomes the owner of this object. (Article 1041 CC). The method of acquiring ownership of a property by regular usucaption is useful in cases where, while there is a relevant contract (e.g. a notarial act), this contract is invalid for a variety of reasons. This gives the contracting party the opportunity to own the property with regular usucaption.

2. EXTRAORDINARY USUCAPTION

He who has the occupancy of a property with the owner’s approval for twenty years, becomes owner by extraordinary usucaption. (Article 1045 CC).

 

BEQUEST

The predecessor can provide someone with property benefit through a will, without designating him as an heir, and then we have the concept of bequest. (Article 1714 CC).

 CERTIFICATE OF SUCCESSION

The inheritance court, at the request of the heir, shall issue a certificate of his inheritance right and the portion that corresponds to him (certificate of succession). (Article 1956 CC)

The issuance of a certificate of succession follows the procedure of voluntary jurisdiction.

REAL ESTATE PROPERTY INSURANCE

1. Mortgage on ownership or usufruct of real property

A real right of mortgage can be constituted on another person’s property to secure claim with the lender's preferential satisfaction by the object.

Mortgages are only acquired for real estate that can be divested as well as for the usufruct of such real estate for as long as it lasts.

Getting a mortgage requires a title granting a mortgage right and registering with the mortgage book.

Titles granting the right to acquire a mortgage are the law, the court ruling and private will. (Articles 1257, 1259, 1260 and 1261 CC).

In Articles 1162 and 1163 of the CC, there are details of those who are entitled by the law to acquire a mortgage (including the mortgage lender at the mortgage property), or by court order.

The mortgage exists from the proper registration in the mortgage book of the region where the property is located. (Article 1268 CC).

Mortgage order: The day the mortgage is registered in the mortgage book regulates the mortgage preference. The order of registration determines the order of the lender’s satisfaction  by the auction of the property.

 All mortgages registered on the same day have the same order. (Article 1272 CC). (Mortgages’ order may be alternated with the consent of mortgage lenders).

2. Mortgage prenotation

The mortgage prenotation only grants a right of preference to acquire a mortgage  (turn of the prenotation). When the claim is finally settled, the prenotation is converted into a mortgage, which is considered to have been registered on the day of prenotation.

 Mortgage prenotations can be registered only after a court decision.

 The prenotation is registered the same way as a mortgage, but by making a reference to the prenotation. (Articles 1274, 1276 and 1277 CC).

LEASING

Under the leasing agreement (here referring to a property), the lessor is obliged to allow the lessee to use the object for as long as the contract lasts and the lessee to pay the agreed rent. (Article 574 CC).

REGISTRABLE PROPERTY LEASING:

1. LONG TERM

Long term is the lease that is valid for a period longer than 9 years. The duration of the lease is determined by the agreement of the parties. Prepared by a notarial deed and transcribed, it constitutes a registrable right to real property and ensures the tenant against any new possessor of the property. (CC Articles 618 and 1208). In the latter case, the commitment of the new possessor presupposes that the transcription has taken place prior to the sale of the property.

2. TIMESHARING

A timesharing lease is the form of a periodically divided lease (Time Sharing), which is drawn up by a relevant timesharing lease contract transcribed to the Land Registry, and where the lessor undertakes to concede per year to the lessee, during the contract, the use of a tourist accommodation and to provide him with related services for a fixed by the contract time and the lessee to pay the agreed rent. The Timeshare, (which is the lessee's contractual right on the object), is concluded for a period of 5 to 60 years, according to the terms of Law 1652 / 14-10-1986 (Government Gazette A30-10-1986).

3. FINANCING

Financing Leasing of business real estate is prepared by a relative contract between a leasing company, granting the other contracting party the use (not ownership) of an object (property) for a period of time, against a rent payment. The property is intended exclusively for the professional use of the contracting party. The rent is paid in the manner specified in the relevant contract and covers the value of the property as well as the costs and the return on investment for the company. When the duration of the lease expires, the lessee has the right either to buy the object, usually for a symbolic amount of money, that is, to own the leased property, or to renew the lease for a certain period of time. The parties may specify that the purchase right may be exercised before the expiry of the lease term.

 The duration of the financing lease cannot be less than 10 years.

The object of leasing may be property purchased by the leasing company from the lessee.

The purchase of property by a freelance professional is excluded.

The property for which a lease may be concluded cannot be a plot, but it can be:

- agricultural land

- horizontal or vertical ownership with the buildings and the co-ownership percentage corresponding to the ground.

- buildings and complexes of buildings along with the other installations and the ground that corresponds to them, as well as the additional open space provided by the town planning terms as a parking lot, (Law 1665/19-11-1986 (Government Gazette A194 / 4- 12-1986) "Financing Leasing Contracts", as amended and in force, Law 2367 / 29-12-1995 (Government Gazette A΄29-12-1995) "New financial institutions and other provisions" and article 27 of Law 2682 / 5-2-1999 (Government Gazette u913 A16 / 8-2-1999) "Car taxation and other provisions").

ENDOWED REAL PROPERTIES

There are cases where, prior to the entry into force of Law No.1989 / 1983 which amended Family Law, the so-called unpriced dowries had been established by relevant premarital contracts, that is, the spouse recipient of the dowry had acquired the management and usufruct of the property while the bare ownership remained to the wife. This right of usufruct in favor of the spouse, after the effect of the above law, was abolished and therefore the wife has now full ownership of the property and not only bare ownership of the respective endowed property. In these cases, the wife has the right of full ownership of the property.

Unless there are other acts that differentiate this type of ownership status.

Also, if a building has been erected on the endowed property or there has been an extension to an existing building, again only the wife is under the obligation of a tax return as the landlord of the plot whose component is the building.

In the event that an apartment building or other building has been constructed on an endowed property with the consideration system (land-for-apartment exchange), the wife is obliged to declare the part of the property (horizontal ownerships, etc.), which remained to the spouses as a consideration for the endowed plot. Of course, for the rest of the property (horizontal ownerships etc.) the third parties are under the obligation of a tax return and each one of them for his rights (Apartment buyers, contractors for any unoccupied apartments, if their corresponding millimeters of co-ownership have been transferred to them)

 PROTECTION OF OWNERSHIP – ACTION FOR RECOVERY

It is provided in the CC. that protection of ownership can be done through an action for recovery.

The action is considered to be the most important means of legal protection of ownership. Thus the owner of an object has the right to demand from the disposer or the holder the recognition of his ownership and the rendering of the object. (Article 1094 CC). (For cases of declaratory judgement, see Article 1108 CC).

CONCEPTS WITH A MAINLY TECHNICAL CONTENT

It is appropriate, in addition to the above issues which are relevant to the legal terms and to a brief explanation of the concepts or terms encountered when reading the titles and completing the declarations, to provide further clarifications concerning the technical terms referred to in real property descriptions.

REAL PROPERTY: A Real property object is the ground and its constituent parts (CC Art. 948). A constituent part of an object is the one that cannot be separated from the main object without damaging it or its owner or without altering its substance or purpose and cannot be particularly subject to ownership or other real right (CC Art. 953).

The constituents of the real property (CC Article 954) are:

1. objects that are firmly attached to the ground, especially buildings,

2. the products of the real property provided that they are carried on the ground;

3. the water below the ground and the spring,

4. seeds with sowing and plants with planting.

Thus real property e.g. is an unbuilt plot or a detached house with its own plot or an apartment building with its own plot but also the apartment (horizontal ownership) of an apartment building. Also real property e.g.  is also a field.

TOPΟΝΥΜ: Special local name of the real property area. If any, it is known to the technical services of the Municipality or the Community. The toponym is useful in cases where there are no street names, usually in areas out of plan and out of the main residential area.

PARCEL OF LAND: Territory of any kind. 'Parcel of Land' includes all territories irrespective of use or location, such as plots in the plan or the residential area, out of plan grounds (parcels, land, pastures, fields, forests and forest areas etc.).

It should be noted that the provisions of the current GCC / 85 (Law 1577/85, as in force), further distinguish the concept of land parcel from ground and plot (not referring to the term land parcel in the GCC while it is the term used in the Land Registry). Thus, a ground and in the language of the transactions a parcel of land is a continuous spread of land which is an independent and unified real property owned by one or more owners jointly (Article 2 (12)), and the plot is any ground within the approved street plan. or inside the limits of a residential area without an approved plan (Article 2 (13)).

PARCEL OF LAND AREA: The area of ​​a parcel of land is its horizontal surface. The term 'horizontal', though obvious to the technicians, is referred because questions have been asked by citizens on heavily sloping terrain.

BUILDING AREA: If an entire building is declared (e.g. a detached house on a plot), its entire surface is taken as its area, that is, the total surface of ​​its floors including the exterior walls (gross area).

In the case of a distinct horizontal ownership, the area indicated on the acquisition title is considered to be its area, provided no changes have been made (extensions etc.). This area includes the exterior walls as well as the walls to the common areas of the whole building (e.g. apartment building), while only half the surface of the interior partitions between the horizontal properties walls is included. The surfaces of any semi-outdoor areas are not included, provided of course they have not been converted into closed spaces.

VERTICAL OWNERSHIP OR VERTICAL CO-OWNERSHIP

It is the separate ownership of one of the independent buildings or part of them erected on a unified parcel of land (ground or plot). Separate ownership exists in the building, while in the unified parcel there is co-ownership at a certain percentage as well as in any existing roofed or not common spaces.

Everything that concerns the creation of divided ownership and of several independent buildings erected on a unified plot was regulated by the provisions of the relevant ND. 1024 / 10-11 / 1971 (Government Gazette A232).

It should be noted that there was always a legal question as to whether the constitution of vertical ownership on grounds was permitted, that is, land parcels outside the city plan and residential area, and where the general terms on out of plan building were in effect.

This "vague" possibility was abolished by the provisions of para. 2a of article 6 of Law 2052 / 3-6-1992 (Government Gazette A 94 / 5-6-1992) "Measures to deal with the smog and town planning regulations “, which now provide that the above kind of split ownership constitution “....... applies only on plots within a city plan, within a pre-1923 residential area boundary, and within the limits of residential areas of less than 2000 inhabitants, determined by the 24-4-1985 bd. (Government Gazette 181 D) as applicable. ... ».

Vertical ownership is divided into simple vertical ownership and compound vertical ownership.

SIMPLE VERTICAL OWNERSHIP: A vertical ownership (co-ownership) is simple, when each of the many buildings erected or scheduled by a related act of constitution to be erected on the same parcel is a separate property, which is owned or going to be owned by one or more of the co-owners of the whole parcel.

It is also the case where an unfinished parcel is 'divided' by a relevant act, between the co-owners, into clearly defined sub-segments in each of which the co-owner of the whole parcel has exclusive use and right of building or has an exclusive use in an already existing building that is separate from any other existing buildings of the same unified parcel vertically. The constitution shall specify the percentage of the total permitted utilization, which each co-owner is entitled to for his share, that is, specified by position and size. In the same act, usually, other issues are defined relating to e.g. ensuring access to the individual parts of the whole parcel.

It is emphasized that the corresponding act of constituting a single vertical ownership regulates the relations between the co-owners and does not affect the unified legal status of the parcel as regards what applies for its use according to the Town Planning legislation (coverage percentage, building factor etc.).

It is noted here that the relevant titles do not usually refer to the term "simple vertical ownership" but may be referred to as vertical ownership or even without any specification, but with a description of the constituent elements of this type of ownership status.

HORIZONTAL OWNERSHIP: Horizontal ownership or horizontal co-ownership or ownership of floors exists when there is ownership of only an independent part of the building (floor, apartment), regardless of its use, and compulsory co-ownership of the common parts of the whole property, i.e. both the parcel and the building (foundations, exterior walls, stairway, flat roof, boiler room etc.). Horizontal ownership is usually constituted by a relevant notarial act of constitution, but can also be constituted by court ruling in certain specific cases.

In all cases the co-ownership percentages of the distinct horizontal ownership over the entire parcel on which the building is or is to be erected shall be specified.

COMPOUND VERTICAL PROPERTY: A vertical ownership (co-ownership) is compound when more buildings erected or scheduled by the relevant act of constitution to be erected on the same parcel are also divided horizontally on floors or parts of floors (apartments) and each of the co-owners of the total parcel owns a floor or part of a floor of one of the buildings and has co-ownership throughout the parcel.

In this case, in the constitution act, in addition to the percentage of co-ownership over the segment of the parcel, where the building to which the specific horizontal ownership belongs has been erected or is going to be erected, the percentage of co-ownership on the whole unified parcel shall also be indicated. This second percentage (usually measured in millimeters) is the product of the percentage of co- ownership of the horizontal ownership in the section of the parcel to the percentage of co- ownership of the vertical ownership over the entire parcel, corresponding to that segment.

In the E9 statement, in the case of vertical co-ownership, each distinct part of the plot is considered as an independent plot. Thus, also in the case of compound vertical ownership, the particulars of the known horizontal ownership appear in the statement.

FLOOR: It is the usual concept that expresses the level at which a particular property or space is generally located within the whole building, that is, the floors are the parts in which a building is divided by successive floors according to height (GOC / 85, Article 2 par. 23).

If there is a building permit, the floor designation is mentioned in the permit, unless the data has been altered subsequently (usual case of a basement, according to the permit, when it is in fact ground floor). In the absence of a building permit, it is recommended that the designation practically follows the rules below, which cover a significant part of the actual case study:

The floors are determined on the basis of succession. That is, above the basement is the ground floor, after that is the 1st or A floor, then the 2nd or B etc. Also below the basement (1st or A) is the 2nd or B basement, below this 3rd or C etc.

The concepts of semi-basement or semi-ground floor, although they are in daily use, have no substance in accordance with the city planning provisions and that is why they should not be used. The floor will be defined on the basis of the previous rule, starting from the definition of the ground floor.

With regard to the definition of the ground floor and the basement, the various General Building Regulations (GBR / 29, GBR / 55, GBR / 83 and GBR / 85 in force) from time to time include different descriptions. According to u956 with current GBR / 85 (Article 2 par. 24), "a basement is a floor or a floor section whose ceiling is up to 1.50 meters higher than the final ground level". Of course over the basement defined above there is the ground floor and other floors.

MEZZANINES IN STORES

It is common for ground floor stores to have a loft or mezzanine above their ground floor. Also, in large auditoriums (e.g. showrooms, etc.) there may be lofts.

In the submissions, the surface of any existing loft, as long as it has no independent entrance and is not an enclosed space, but is an open balcony within the hall of the main ground floor, with which it communicates by an interior staircase, is added to the surface of the auxiliary spaces e.g. of the store. If, however, it is an enclosed space with a separate entrance, then it is a mezzanine, which is declared separately.

COMMUNAL SPACES OF BUILDINGS

For buildings, for which a horizontal or vertical ownership is constituted, whose communal spaces are described separately from the distinctive horizontal properties of the building and to which spaces do not correspond co-ownership percentages on the plot or parcel, none of the co-owners of the building shall submit a tax return.

Such communal spaces are stairways, boilers, fuel tank spaces, free space with pillars on the ground floor (PILOTIS).

However, caution should be exercised in cases where parking places have been designated in the PILOTIS area by the relevant constitution act. Only these places are declared (as sequels of the horizontal properties to which they are linked), by each of their respective beneficiaries.

THE RIGHT OF HEIGHT

It is known that in many acts of constitution of horizontal or vertical ownership or even in wills etc. the right to "height" is also referred to as a right to real property. This right, the beneficiary (-ies) of which is also provided in the respective act, relates to the possibility to add a height to an existing (or to be erected) building. This addition is not carried out directly, that is, with the rest of the building, u947 for a number of reasons, including the will of the owners of the rest of the property or the beneficiary of height. This future right of height shall be stated by its beneficiary as follows:

1. If it is a right described and provided as a distinct (future) horizontal ownership in an act of constitution or title, with a corresponding percentage of co-ownership on the plot or ground, then the right of height is declared as a horizontal or vertical ownership.

2. If it is a right of height referred in a relevant constitution act or title, but without a corresponding percentage of ownership on the plot or ground being provided, then this right shall be declared by indirectly determining the percentage of co-ownership from the ratio of the surface of the building that entails this right through the total surface of ​​permitted utilization of the plot or parcel. In the case of a plot with a Commerce Factor greater than one unit, the mathematical formula of the "Plot Value Factor" of Form 3 for the Plot Value (code 315) is used to determine this percentage.

PLOT SECTION CONCEDED FOR COMMUNAL USE

If there is a segment of a parcel conceded to street planning at the time of the conversion into a plot), which was conceded to communal use by a notarial deed and transcription by the owner of the entire plot, (usually to allow a building permit to be issued on that plot before implementation of the city plan), then this part of the plot has been cut off from the original ownership and the form of the tax return indicates the area of ​​the remaining plot, that is, by removing the surface that has been conceded to street planning.

However, the parts of parcels of land which are being conceded to street planning and for which the plan of their area has not yet been implemented are not considered to have been cut off from the original ownership and are therefore declared as a unity with it (total area).

In and Out of Zone

It concerns properties that are outside the city plan but within or outside the HOUSEHOLD AUDIT ZONE (HAZ). Properties that are inside the HAZ are subject to special building conditions while those that are outside the HAZ are subject to general building conditions.

Objective value

It is the value resulting from the multiplication of the starting price of the value of a property by coefficients set by the State, which relate to characteristics of the property, e.g. floor, surface, age, etc.

Surplus value

The term surplus value refers to the difference between the purchase price and the sale price of a property after deducting the inflation adjustments applicable to the period between the purchase and sale.

Zone

It is generally considered to be a part of a municipality or municipality district or residential area which according to the price lists has a flat price (ZP).

Zone Price (ZP)

It is the flat starting price for each property located in this area and it refers to the total value of the building and plot corresponding to one square meter (m2) of surface of a new dwelling or apartment on the first floor of the building with frontage on one street only and with a Commerce Factor equal to the unit.

Land Use Factor (LUF)

It is the coefficient that expresses the possibility of constructing on the plot and usually coincides with its coefficient of construction (CC).

Millimeters on the Plot

The millimeters on the plot are allocated to the horizontal / vertical ownership of a property by establishing the horizontal / vertical ownership and show co-ownership on the plot of these properties. Usually, the larger the size of the property, the more millimeters it has on the plot in which it is located.

Marketability Factor (MF)

It is the factor (greater than or equal to the unit) that shows the marketability of a road or road segment of a particular zone.

Plot Factor (PF)

It is the factor that determines the value of the plot, less than or equal to or greater than the unit (1).

Building factor

This is a factor set by the State which, multiplied by the area of ​​each plot, gives us the total of the square meters that can be reconstructed on it. For example: Plot Size: 400 sq.m. and Building Factor: 0.80

Authorized Building: 400 x 0.80 = 320 sq.m.

Coverage Factor

This is a factor determined by the State, which multiplied by the area of ​​each plot gives us the maximum area of ​​coverage of the plot by the building. For example: Plot Size: 400 sq.m. and Coverage factor: 70%

400 x 70% = 270 sq.m. (are the square meters that the building is allowed to cover).

Ground floor Utilization Coefficient (K).

It is the factor that determines the extent of utilization of the ground floor of a property. It depends on the land use factor (LUF) and the marketability factor (MF) of the plot.

Price of Plot (PP).

It is the value per square meter (m2) of plot that has a frontage on one street only, with MF = 1.0. It is a conjunction of the Zone Price (ZP) and the land use factor (LUF).

Property façade

 Facades of a property are considered those sides which have got openings (window, door or shop window) on a street, gallery or on the unbuilt space of the plot. As for a plot, facades are considered to be those sides which are adjacent to communal spaces.

Property surface

It is the area in square meters (m2). In the case of buildings, their area including the external walls is considered to be their surface. If the surface also includes the communal spaces (gross surface), the gross surface reduced by ten per cent (10%) is considered to be their surface, that is, multiplied by 0.90. Semi-outdoor spaces are not included in the surface.

Semi-Outdoor Spaces

Space of ​​the apartment that is not included in its surface and it is surrounded by a wall of a certain height (approx. 1,50 m).

Pilotis

The free (open) surface of the ground floor on which the building is constructed. Parking spaces are usually created on the pilotis, which belong to horizontal properties (apartments) located in this block of flats.

TRANSFER

Transaction

The term "transaction" refers to the reciprocal contract with which the one (seller) transfers ownership over a property and hands it down and the other (buyer) pays the agreed price.

Parental gift

Parental gift is called the donation that takes place between parents and children and is subject to special tax rates.

Donation

Gratuitus act by which the one (donor) transfers ownership over a property and hands it down to the other (grantor) without an exchange.

Sublease or subletting

The lease of the property by the tenant to a third party and if the opposite was not agreed to in the original contract of lease. The tenant is liable to the owner for the fault of the third party.

Declarations to the Tax Office

Prior to the drawing up and signing of a notarial act constituting, transferring or abolishing a right to real property, relevant declarations shall be submitted to the tax office in order to pay any resulting tax. These are:

• The Declaration of Transfer Tax, exchange, distribution, establishment of abolishment of horizontal / vertical property usage is submitted to the property’s area tax office and accompanies the copy which is intended for the Land Registry.

• The Donation / Parental gift tax declaration is submitted to the donor’s / provider’s residence area tax office and is attached to the notarial act.

• The Inheritance Tax Declaration is submitted to the tax office of the area of the deceased’s last residence and it accompanies the copy intended for the Land Registry.

Transcription

All notarial acts constituting, transferring or abolishing a right to real property are subject to transcription in the Land Registry’s transcription books of the area of the real property. Subsequent to the transaction, the constitution, transfer or abolishment of this right is completed.

Land Registries

Offices under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice, where mortgages, annotations and their eliminations are registered, as well as transfers of contracts which constitute, abolish or transfer property rights.

Real property rights

 

Real property rights are the legal forms of human power over economic goods, that is, the rights which under the Code (CC 973) confer direct and universal power over everything. Property rights are ownership, servitude, pawns and mortgages.

Ownership (full ownership)

It is direct, universal and absolute power of the person over the object.

Usufruct

It is the usufructuary's property right to use and profit from an object belonging to another, while retaining its substance.

The usufruct unless otherwise specified is non-transferable. However, it is possible to transfer the exercise of the usufruct right for a period that cannot exceed its validity period (CC 1166).

Housing

It is the real and exclusive right of the beneficiary to use another person’s building or apartment as a residence (CC 1183). This right is set and it is abolished after the beneficiary’s death.

Bare ownership

It is the real right that remains when full ownership is deprived of the usufruct right, that is, the use and profit of the object, and is thus limited to the power of its disposal.

 

Servitude on real property

Servitude on real property, under Article 11.18 CC, is the limited real estate right over a property that is constituted to serve the needs of another property while providing benefits to the owner of the time being. The property in favor of which the servitude is established is called dominant, while the one against which the servitude is established is called servient.

Limited personal servitude

Limited personal servitude is the real property right over another person’s property that is established in favor of a particular person, giving it some power or utility.

Occupancy

It is the physical power of the person over the object that is exercised by the owner’s approval (CC 974).

Pledge

It is the real property right on another person’s movable object, which gives the pledgee the power to satisfy himself preferentially by its value (CC 1209).

The pledge can also be set up at an ideal share of an object, either by contract or by law.

Mortgage

It is the real property right to a foreign (to the lender) real estate to secure a certain claim with preferential satisfaction of the lender by the property (CC 1257-1345).

Getting a mortgage requires a title granting a mortgage right and registering with the mortgage book.

Enforced expropriation

It is the deprivation of the ownership of a person by a unilateral act of the Administrative Authority in return for payment of a legally defined compensation for public benefit provided by law. Declaration of enforced expropriation is an individual administrative act, usually by a joint decision of the competent (depending on the purpose of expropriation) Minister and the Minister of Finance and it is ensued by the publication of the decision in the Government Gazette. The effectuation of the expropriation is ensued by the payment to the beneficiary of the compensation determined by a court decision or fraudulent publication in the Government Gazette of the deposit of the compensation at the Consignments and Loans Fund.

Horizontal Property

Horizontal Property or floor property is the separate exclusive and self-existent ownership of a floor or a floor apartment, with a certain percentage of compulsory co-ownership in the land and the common and undivided parts of the building.

Vertical Property

Vertical ownership or co-ownership is the separate (divided, exclusive) ownership of a building that is built on the same plot with one other or other buildings, combined with co-ownership on that plot as well as on the common parts of the buildings and with the participation of the beneficiaries of the individual vertical properties.

Plot

It is any land that is within the approved street plan or within the boundaries of a residential area without an approved plan.

Plot Fragmentation

The division of a plot into several smaller plots. Fragmentation of a plot is permitted when the created smaller plots are all complete and fit for building on, in accordance with the existing terms of town planning.

NATURAL PERSON

The natural person is a man. The person begins to exist as soon as he is born alive and ceases to exist with his death. As to the rights conceded to him, the one yet unborn is considered to be born if he is born alive. (Articles 35 and 36 CC)

LEGAL PERSON

A union of persons aiming to a particular purpose, as well as a total of property reserved for a particular purpose, may acquire personality if the conditions laid down by the law are fulfilled. The personality thus acquired is the legal person. The constituent act, memorandum or organization of the legal person shall be drawn up in writing. The legal person, unless otherwise specified in the constituent act or the memorandum, shall have its registered office at the place where its administration is located. (Articles 61, 63 and 64 CC).

 

OWNERSHIP ON PROPERTY

FULL OWNERSHIP

The concept of full ownership refers to a property for which there is no usufruct right by another beneficiary.

Full ownership varies in percentages up to 100% of the property, thus the owner is called the exclusive owner of the property.

In the case of an owner’s lower percentage of full ownership over a property there is a co-ownership, that is, one or more co-owners, each by their percentage, so that the total percentage of all the co-owners is 100% (or 1000%).

BARE OWNERSHIP

Bare ownership exists in real property when, in addition to ownership, there is a usufruct by a beneficiary other than the bare owner. And in the case of bare ownership this may be exclusive or there may be a co-ownership in the differentiations mentioned above in the case of full ownership.

SOCIETY

If the right belongs to more than one in unison, unless the law provides otherwise, there is a society among them in ideal parts. In case of doubt, it is considered that these parts are equal. (Article 785 CC)

CO-OWNERSHIP

If the ownership of the object belongs to more than one jointly in ideal parts, the terms on society apply. (Article 1113 CC).

AB INDIVISO (Jointly)

There is a joint ownership of a property when more than one owner jointly acquire the property in question both because of a contract (e.g. in case of purchase) and by law (e.g. in case of joint inheritance).

EXCLUSIVE USE

A property may have in its exclusive use a space (vacant lot or building) that would otherwise be a common space. This space is virtually communal and with the creation of horizontal ownership it is given to the exclusive use of a horizontal property.

 

PERSONAL SERVITUDES

 

1. RIGHT OF RESIDENCE

The personal servitude of residence constitutes of the real and exclusive right of the beneficiary to use as a residence another person’s building or apartment.

The right of residence is constituted by a notarial document transcribed at the Registry. It can also be constituted by a will or a donation because of death. One may also be entitled to this personal servitude with regular or extraordinary usucaption.

The right of residence is non-transferable and is depreciated upon the beneficiary's death. (Articles 1183 and 1185 CC).

2. USUFRUCT

The concept of usufruct is given in Article 1142 of the Civil Code.

In real estate, the personal servitude of usufruct consists of the usufructuary's real right to make full use and profit of another person’s property while maintaining its substance intact. Usufruct (Article 1143 CC) is constituted by legal act or by usucaption. The terms for the usucaption of real property and for the transfer of their ownership by agreement shall apply accordingly also on the constitution of their usufruct. Usufruct can also be constituted on an ideal part of the property (Article 1144 CC).

The usufruct, unless otherwise specified, is non-transferable. ( Its use can be transferred to another for a period not exceeding the duration of the usufruct, subject to the term of Article 1164 CC). (Article 1166 CC).

The usufruct, unless otherwise specified, is depreciated by the death of the usufructuary. Usufruct in favor of a legal person ceases to exist along with him. (Article 1167 CC).

The usufruct is depreciated as soon as it is merged with the ownership in the same person unless a mortgage has been registered with the usufruct. u917 The usufruct is also depreciated by a unilateral declaration by the beneficiary to the owner that he resigns, which is done by notarial act and transcription. (Articles 1168 and 1169 C.C.)

REAL PROPERTY SERVITUDE

A right on a real property may be acquired in favor of the owner of another property which gives him some benefit. In real property servitude, the owner of the servient has the burden of either tolerating some use by the owner of the dominant or omitting certain actions which he would be entitled to attempt as owner. (Articles 1118 and 1119 CC).

Real property servitude is in particular servitude of street (passage), channeling or sewage or water pumping or watering breds of the dominant, or grazing or timber, etc. (Article 1120 CC).

Real property servitude is constituted by legal act or by usucaption. The terms for the usucaption of real property and its transfer by agreement shall apply accordingly also on the constitution of real servitude. (Article 1121 CC).

DOMINANT PROPERTY

Dominant is the benefited property whose owner is entitled to real servitude on another property, which is considered to be encumbered by the existence of such real servitude and is the servient property.

REDISTRIBUTION OF LAND

Redistribution is the removal, by act of the State, of ownership from the owners of real property of an area and the parceling of these properties between the same owners, in order to better utilize the agricultural land (rural land redistribution) or residential land (urban land redistribution).

In the case of agricultural land redistribution, if this has already been validated at the time of filing the declaration, the new properties are declared by their beneficiaries as they have arisen by the redistribution.

In case there is a pending redistribution validation, but the occupancy of the new parcels has been granted to the beneficiaries, these new parcels are declared when all arrangements are made for the E9 declaration.

However, in the event that the agricultural land redistribution has not yet taken place, that is, the relevant judgement is passed and the procedures have started, but without having granted occupancy to the new ownerships, the old properties are declared by their owners (reforestable).

USUCAPTION

Usucaption is an original way of acquiring ownership of an object and is therefore a real right.

The acquisition of real estate by usucaption, regular or extraordinary is examined here.

1. REGULAR USUCAPTION

He who has, with the owner’s approval, the occupancy in good faith and with a legal title of a property for a decade, becomes the owner of this object. (Article 1041 CC). The method of acquiring ownership of a property by regular usucaption is useful in cases where, while there is a relevant contract (e.g. a notarial act), this contract is invalid for a variety of reasons. This gives the contracting party the opportunity to own the property with regular usucaption.

2. EXTRAORDINARY USUCAPTION

He who has the occupancy of a property with the owner’s approval for twenty years, becomes owner by extraordinary usucaption. (Article 1045 CC).

 

BEQUEST

The predecessor can provide someone with property benefit through a will, without designating him as an heir, and then we have the concept of bequest. (Article 1714 CC).

 CERTIFICATE OF SUCCESSION

The inheritance court, at the request of the heir, shall issue a certificate of his inheritance right and the portion that corresponds to him (certificate of succession). (Article 1956 CC)

The issuance of a certificate of succession follows the procedure of voluntary jurisdiction.

REAL ESTATE PROPERTY INSURANCE

1. Mortgage on ownership or usufruct of real property

A real right of mortgage can be constituted on another person’s property to secure claim with the lender's preferential satisfaction by the object.

Mortgages are only acquired for real estate that can be divested as well as for the usufruct of such real estate for as long as it lasts.

Getting a mortgage requires a title granting a mortgage right and registering with the mortgage book.

Titles granting the right to acquire a mortgage are the law, the court ruling and private will. (Articles 1257, 1259, 1260 and 1261 CC).

In Articles 1162 and 1163 of the CC, there are details of those who are entitled by the law to acquire a mortgage (including the mortgage lender at the mortgage property), or by court order.

The mortgage exists from the proper registration in the mortgage book of the region where the property is located. (Article 1268 CC).

Mortgage order: The day the mortgage is registered in the mortgage book regulates the mortgage preference. The order of registration determines the order of the lender’s satisfaction  by the auction of the property.

 All mortgages registered on the same day have the same order. (Article 1272 CC). (Mortgages’ order may be alternated with the consent of mortgage lenders).

2. Mortgage prenotation

The mortgage prenotation only grants a right of preference to acquire a mortgage  (turn of the prenotation). When the claim is finally settled, the prenotation is converted into a mortgage, which is considered to have been registered on the day of prenotation.

 Mortgage prenotations can be registered only after a court decision.

 The prenotation is registered the same way as a mortgage, but by making a reference to the prenotation. (Articles 1274, 1276 and 1277 CC).

LEASING

Under the leasing agreement (here referring to a property), the lessor is obliged to allow the lessee to use the object for as long as the contract lasts and the lessee to pay the agreed rent. (Article 574 CC).

REGISTRABLE PROPERTY LEASING:

1. LONG TERM

Long term is the lease that is valid for a period longer than 9 years. The duration of the lease is determined by the agreement of the parties. Prepared by a notarial deed and transcribed, it constitutes a registrable right to real property and ensures the tenant against any new possessor of the property. (CC Articles 618 and 1208). In the latter case, the commitment of the new possessor presupposes that the transcription has taken place prior to the sale of the property.

2. TIMESHARING

A timesharing lease is the form of a periodically divided lease (Time Sharing), which is drawn up by a relevant timesharing lease contract transcribed to the Land Registry, and where the lessor undertakes to concede per year to the lessee, during the contract, the use of a tourist accommodation and to provide him with related services for a fixed by the contract time and the lessee to pay the agreed rent. The Timeshare, (which is the lessee's contractual right on the object), is concluded for a period of 5 to 60 years, according to the terms of Law 1652 / 14-10-1986 (Government Gazette A30-10-1986).

3. FINANCING

Financing Leasing of business real estate is prepared by a relative contract between a leasing company, granting the other contracting party the use (not ownership) of an object (property) for a period of time, against a rent payment. The property is intended exclusively for the professional use of the contracting party. The rent is paid in the manner specified in the relevant contract and covers the value of the property as well as the costs and the return on investment for the company. When the duration of the lease expires, the lessee has the right either to buy the object, usually for a symbolic amount of money, that is, to own the leased property, or to renew the lease for a certain period of time. The parties may specify that the purchase right may be exercised before the expiry of the lease term.

 The duration of the financing lease cannot be less than 10 years.

The object of leasing may be property purchased by the leasing company from the lessee.

The purchase of property by a freelance professional is excluded.

The property for which a lease may be concluded cannot be a plot, but it can be:

- agricultural land

- horizontal or vertical ownership with the buildings and the co-ownership percentage corresponding to the ground.

- buildings and complexes of buildings along with the other installations and the ground that corresponds to them, as well as the additional open space provided by the town planning terms as a parking lot, (Law 1665/19-11-1986 (Government Gazette A194 / 4- 12-1986) "Financing Leasing Contracts", as amended and in force, Law 2367 / 29-12-1995 (Government Gazette A΄29-12-1995) "New financial institutions and other provisions" and article 27 of Law 2682 / 5-2-1999 (Government Gazette u913 A16 / 8-2-1999) "Car taxation and other provisions").

ENDOWED REAL PROPERTIES

There are cases where, prior to the entry into force of Law No.1989 / 1983 which amended Family Law, the so-called unpriced dowries had been established by relevant premarital contracts, that is, the spouse recipient of the dowry had acquired the management and usufruct of the property while the bare ownership remained to the wife. This right of usufruct in favor of the spouse, after the effect of the above law, was abolished and therefore the wife has now full ownership of the property and not only bare ownership of the respective endowed property. In these cases, the wife has the right of full ownership of the property.

Unless there are other acts that differentiate this type of ownership status.

Also, if a building has been erected on the endowed property or there has been an extension to an existing building, again only the wife is under the obligation of a tax return as the landlord of the plot whose component is the building.

In the event that an apartment building or other building has been constructed on an endowed property with the consideration system (land-for-apartment exchange), the wife is obliged to declare the part of the property (horizontal ownerships, etc.), which remained to the spouses as a consideration for the endowed plot. Of course, for the rest of the property (horizontal ownerships etc.) the third parties are under the obligation of a tax return and each one of them for his rights (Apartment buyers, contractors for any unoccupied apartments, if their corresponding millimeters of co-ownership have been transferred to them)

 PROTECTION OF OWNERSHIP – ACTION FOR RECOVERY

It is provided in the CC. that protection of ownership can be done through an action for recovery.

The action is considered to be the most important means of legal protection of ownership. Thus the owner of an object has the right to demand from the disposer or the holder the recognition of his ownership and the rendering of the object. (Article 1094 CC). (For cases of declaratory judgement, see Article 1108 CC).

CONCEPTS WITH A MAINLY TECHNICAL CONTENT

It is appropriate, in addition to the above issues which are relevant to the legal terms and to a brief explanation of the concepts or terms encountered when reading the titles and completing the declarations, to provide further clarifications concerning the technical terms referred to in real property descriptions.

REAL PROPERTY: A Real property object is the ground and its constituent parts (CC Art. 948). A constituent part of an object is the one that cannot be separated from the main object without damaging it or its owner or without altering its substance or purpose and cannot be particularly subject to ownership or other real right (CC Art. 953).

The constituents of the real property (CC Article 954) are:

1. objects that are firmly attached to the ground, especially buildings,

2. the products of the real property provided that they are carried on the ground;

3. the water below the ground and the spring,

4. seeds with sowing and plants with planting.

Thus real property e.g. is an unbuilt plot or a detached house with its own plot or an apartment building with its own plot but also the apartment (horizontal ownership) of an apartment building. Also real property e.g.  is also a field.

TOPΟΝΥΜ: Special local name of the real property area. If any, it is known to the technical services of the Municipality or the Community. The toponym is useful in cases where there are no street names, usually in areas out of plan and out of the main residential area.

PARCEL OF LAND: Territory of any kind. 'Parcel of Land' includes all territories irrespective of use or location, such as plots in the plan or the residential area, out of plan grounds (parcels, land, pastures, fields, forests and forest areas etc.).

It should be noted that the provisions of the current GCC / 85 (Law 1577/85, as in force), further distinguish the concept of land parcel from ground and plot (not referring to the term land parcel in the GCC while it is the term used in the Land Registry). Thus, a ground and in the language of the transactions a parcel of land is a continuous spread of land which is an independent and unified real property owned by one or more owners jointly (Article 2 (12)), and the plot is any ground within the approved street plan. or inside the limits of a residential area without an approved plan (Article 2 (13)).

PARCEL OF LAND AREA: The area of ​​a parcel of land is its horizontal surface. The term 'horizontal', though obvious to the technicians, is referred because questions have been asked by citizens on heavily sloping terrain.

BUILDING AREA: If an entire building is declared (e.g. a detached house on a plot), its entire surface is taken as its area, that is, the total surface of ​​its floors including the exterior walls (gross area).

In the case of a distinct horizontal ownership, the area indicated on the acquisition title is considered to be its area, provided no changes have been made (extensions etc.). This area includes the exterior walls as well as the walls to the common areas of the whole building (e.g. apartment building), while only half the surface of the interior partitions between the horizontal properties walls is included. The surfaces of any semi-outdoor areas are not included, provided of course they have not been converted into closed spaces.

VERTICAL OWNERSHIP OR VERTICAL CO-OWNERSHIP

It is the separate ownership of one of the independent buildings or part of them erected on a unified parcel of land (ground or plot). Separate ownership exists in the building, while in the unified parcel there is co-ownership at a certain percentage as well as in any existing roofed or not common spaces.

Everything that concerns the creation of divided ownership and of several independent buildings erected on a unified plot was regulated by the provisions of the relevant ND. 1024 / 10-11 / 1971 (Government Gazette A232).

It should be noted that there was always a legal question as to whether the constitution of vertical ownership on grounds was permitted, that is, land parcels outside the city plan and residential area, and where the general terms on out of plan building were in effect.

This "vague" possibility was abolished by the provisions of para. 2a of article 6 of Law 2052 / 3-6-1992 (Government Gazette A 94 / 5-6-1992) "Measures to deal with the smog and town planning regulations “, which now provide that the above kind of split ownership constitution “....... applies only on plots within a city plan, within a pre-1923 residential area boundary, and within the limits of residential areas of less than 2000 inhabitants, determined by the 24-4-1985 bd. (Government Gazette 181 D) as applicable. ... ».

Vertical ownership is divided into simple vertical ownership and compound vertical ownership.

SIMPLE VERTICAL OWNERSHIP: A vertical ownership (co-ownership) is simple, when each of the many buildings erected or scheduled by a related act of constitution to be erected on the same parcel is a separate property, which is owned or going to be owned by one or more of the co-owners of the whole parcel.

It is also the case where an unfinished parcel is 'divided' by a relevant act, between the co-owners, into clearly defined sub-segments in each of which the co-owner of the whole parcel has exclusive use and right of building or has an exclusive use in an already existing building that is separate from any other existing buildings of the same unified parcel vertically. The constitution shall specify the percentage of the total permitted utilization, which each co-owner is entitled to for his share, that is, specified by position and size. In the same act, usually, other issues are defined relating to e.g. ensuring access to the individual parts of the whole parcel.

It is emphasized that the corresponding act of constituting a single vertical ownership regulates the relations between the co-owners and does not affect the unified legal status of the parcel as regards what applies for its use according to the Town Planning legislation (coverage percentage, building factor etc.).

It is noted here that the relevant titles do not usually refer to the term "simple vertical ownership" but may be referred to as vertical ownership or even without any specification, but with a description of the constituent elements of this type of ownership status.

HORIZONTAL OWNERSHIP: Horizontal ownership or horizontal co-ownership or ownership of floors exists when there is ownership of only an independent part of the building (floor, apartment), regardless of its use, and compulsory co-ownership of the common parts of the whole property, i.e. both the parcel and the building (foundations, exterior walls, stairway, flat roof, boiler room etc.). Horizontal ownership is usually constituted by a relevant notarial act of constitution, but can also be constituted by court ruling in certain specific cases.

In all cases the co-ownership percentages of the distinct horizontal ownership over the entire parcel on which the building is or is to be erected shall be specified.

COMPOUND VERTICAL PROPERTY: A vertical ownership (co-ownership) is compound when more buildings erected or scheduled by the relevant act of constitution to be erected on the same parcel are also divided horizontally on floors or parts of floors (apartments) and each of the co-owners of the total parcel owns a floor or part of a floor of one of the buildings and has co-ownership throughout the parcel.

In this case, in the constitution act, in addition to the percentage of co-ownership over the segment of the parcel, where the building to which the specific horizontal ownership belongs has been erected or is going to be erected, the percentage of co-ownership on the whole unified parcel shall also be indicated. This second percentage (usually measured in millimeters) is the product of the percentage of co- ownership of the horizontal ownership in the section of the parcel to the percentage of co- ownership of the vertical ownership over the entire parcel, corresponding to that segment.

In the E9 statement, in the case of vertical co-ownership, each distinct part of the plot is considered as an independent plot. Thus, also in the case of compound vertical ownership, the particulars of the known horizontal ownership appear in the statement.

FLOOR: It is the usual concept that expresses the level at which a particular property or space is generally located within the whole building, that is, the floors are the parts in which a building is divided by successive floors according to height (GOC / 85, Article 2 par. 23).

If there is a building permit, the floor designation is mentioned in the permit, unless the data has been altered subsequently (usual case of a basement, according to the permit, when it is in fact ground floor). In the absence of a building permit, it is recommended that the designation practically follows the rules below, which cover a significant part of the actual case study:

The floors are determined on the basis of succession. That is, above the basement is the ground floor, after that is the 1st or A floor, then the 2nd or B etc. Also below the basement (1st or A) is the 2nd or B basement, below this 3rd or C etc.

The concepts of semi-basement or semi-ground floor, although they are in daily use, have no substance in accordance with the city planning provisions and that is why they should not be used. The floor will be defined on the basis of the previous rule, starting from the definition of the ground floor.

With regard to the definition of the ground floor and the basement, the various General Building Regulations (GBR / 29, GBR / 55, GBR / 83 and GBR / 85 in force) from time to time include different descriptions. According to u956 with current GBR / 85 (Article 2 par. 24), "a basement is a floor or a floor section whose ceiling is up to 1.50 meters higher than the final ground level". Of course over the basement defined above there is the ground floor and other floors.

MEZZANINES IN STORES

It is common for ground floor stores to have a loft or mezzanine above their ground floor. Also, in large auditoriums (e.g. showrooms, etc.) there may be lofts.

In the submissions, the surface of any existing loft, as long as it has no independent entrance and is not an enclosed space, but is an open balcony within the hall of the main ground floor, with which it communicates by an interior staircase, is added to the surface of the auxiliary spaces e.g. of the store. If, however, it is an enclosed space with a separate entrance, then it is a mezzanine, which is declared separately.

COMMUNAL SPACES OF BUILDINGS

For buildings, for which a horizontal or vertical ownership is constituted, whose communal spaces are described separately from the distinctive horizontal properties of the building and to which spaces do not correspond co-ownership percentages on the plot or parcel, none of the co-owners of the building shall submit a tax return.

Such communal spaces are stairways, boilers, fuel tank spaces, free space with pillars on the ground floor (PILOTIS).

However, caution should be exercised in cases where parking places have been designated in the PILOTIS area by the relevant constitution act. Only these places are declared (as sequels of the horizontal properties to which they are linked), by each of their respective beneficiaries.

THE RIGHT OF HEIGHT

It is known that in many acts of constitution of horizontal or vertical ownership or even in wills etc. the right to "height" is also referred to as a right to real property. This right, the beneficiary (-ies) of which is also provided in the respective act, relates to the possibility to add a height to an existing (or to be erected) building. This addition is not carried out directly, that is, with the rest of the building, u947 for a number of reasons, including the will of the owners of the rest of the property or the beneficiary of height. This future right of height shall be stated by its beneficiary as follows:

1. If it is a right described and provided as a distinct (future) horizontal ownership in an act of constitution or title, with a corresponding percentage of co-ownership on the plot or ground, then the right of height is declared as a horizontal or vertical ownership.

2. If it is a right of height referred in a relevant constitution act or title, but without a corresponding percentage of ownership on the plot or ground being provided, then this right shall be declared by indirectly determining the percentage of co-ownership from the ratio of the surface of the building that entails this right through the total surface of ​​permitted utilization of the plot or parcel. In the case of a plot with a Commerce Factor greater than one unit, the mathematical formula of the "Plot Value Factor" of Form 3 for the Plot Value (code 315) is used to determine this percentage.

PLOT SECTION CONCEDED FOR COMMUNAL USE

If there is a segment of a parcel conceded to street planning at the time of the conversion into a plot), which was conceded to communal use by a notarial deed and transcription by the owner of the entire plot, (usually to allow a building permit to be issued on that plot before implementation of the city plan), then this part of the plot has been cut off from the original ownership and the form of the tax return indicates the area of ​​the remaining plot, that is, by removing the surface that has been conceded to street planning.

However, the parts of parcels of land which are being conceded to street planning and for which the plan of their area has not yet been implemented are not considered to have been cut off from the original ownership and are therefore declared as a unity with it (total area).

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