Interventions to boost property numbers

New legislative provisions are gradually being activated, which are expected to remove a number of obstacles in order to stimulate the supply of real estate in the market. They will also limit the suffering of citizens, either as they try to secure their rights in the land registry or on through the bureaucracy of transfers.

These are four individual regulations included in Law 5293/2026, titled, “Interventions for a more citizen-friendly state,” which was passed a few months ago.

The first of these concerns the possibility of paying inheritance or parental benefit tax when the property is transferred, which is expected to be allowed for the first time. 

This will avoid a repeat of a mass movement, “I Won’t Inherit,” which was observed during the financial crisis, when it is estimated that the number of disinheritances reached 180,000 (from 2013 to 2019).

This provision is combined with the second intervention, which concerns the establishment of the notary in a “one-stop shop” service for the transfer of real estate, be it sales and parental benefits or due to death.

The third provision moves in the same direction, giving the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) the possibility to definitively release the transfer of confiscated property. 

According to the Property Owners Federation (POMIDA), “in a few days, the issuance of a decision by the administrator of AADE is expected to definitively release the transfer of confiscated properties, on the condition that a percentage of the price (which will be determined by AADE based on the amount of the debt and the amount collected from the transfer) will be withheld by the notary and will be attributed to AADE.”

Another beneficial provision of the law proposed by Deputy Prime Minister Kostis Hatzidakis is the establishment of the essential conditions under which the state will no longer assert rights and will refrain from bringing lawsuits during the correction of the first entries in the national cadastre. 

To date, tens of thousands of incidents have been recorded in which the state appears to claim tens of thousands of properties on its behalf throughout the country, claiming ownership of entire areas.