Real property law

By Prokopis Hatzinikolaou

The government is considering an increase in the number of installments allowed for the payment of the new Single Property Ownership Tax (ENFIA) for 2014 and to reduce its size from 2015 if the amount taxpayers are asked to pay exceeds that provided for by the budget.

International lenders concluded a fifth review of Cyprus’s economy on Friday, saying the island was making “relatively good progress” after a bailout last year but that key challenges lay ahead.

By Prokopis Hatzinikolaou

The Finance Ministry is blocking real estate transactions for owners who have not paid their property taxes in the last five years. Any transactions attempted without the ENFIA certificate, whose title comes from the Greek acronym for the Single Property Tax, will be deemed invalid.

The UN committee called on the government to suspend the eviction of the families until a complaint filed by their lawyers on the merits of the decision to demolish the houses and subsequent compensation claims are heard.

By Sharon Smyth, Nikos Chrysoloras and Christos Ziotis

Greek banker Theodoros Kalantonis, who has survived the worst of times the past six years, said he can finally see the resurrection of home lending.

Property owners who have failed to pay any installments of the emergency property tax (EETA) that is levied via electricity bills face the risk of being classified as debtors to the state and fined accordingly, Greece’s largest power company said on Tuesday.

By Nikos Roussanoglou

Following the reduction in the transfer tax to 3 percent since the start of the year, Greece has shown a considerable improvement in the European chart of countries based on total property transaction charges.

Ownership of even a small plot of farmland will add to the owners’ tax burden this year.

By Prokopis Hatzinikolaou

The first payment notices for the new Single Property Ownership Tax will start dropping into the letterboxes of about 5 million owners next month. It will be payable in six monthly tranches.

Greece’s zoning laws are to be made much more flexible, according to draft legislation prepared by the Environment Ministry and put to public consultation on Thursday.

Pangaea REIC, the real estate investment trust owned by Invel Real Estate Partners and the National Bank of Greece SA, aims to raise about 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) to invest in Greece and Italy, three people with knowledge of the matter said.