POMIDA: provisions of the Hatzidakis Law on real estate are being activated

The new regulations aim to accelerate transactions, reduce bureaucracy and address long-standing property ownership issues associated with the National Cadastre.

As stated by POMIDA in its relevant announcement:

1. The following new regulations have already been in force since the publication of Law 5293/2026 (7 April 2026):

• The abolition of the mandatory attachment of a topographical diagram to property transfer deeds in cadastral areas (Article 16).
• The possibility of paying inheritance tax, gift tax or parental donation tax at the time of the transfer of the property (Article 17).
• The submission of maladministration complaints to the Integrity Advisor (Article 9).
• The unified examination of administrative appeals by a central body of each organisation (Article 10).

2. With the recent Circular No. 177178/30.6.2026 issued by the Ministry of Rural Development and Food entitled “Clarifications on the implementation of Articles 12 and 14 of Law 5293/2026”, the issuance of which POMIDA welcomes with particular satisfaction, the “industry” of unfair and unreasonable legal property claims by the State against many tens of thousands of citizens throughout the country comes to a definitive end.

This regulation was a long-standing demand of POMIDA and, particularly in view of the establishment of the National Cadastre, its permanent message has been that: “The State cannot continue to claim everything from everyone and forever!!!”

These provisions establish the substantive and procedural conditions under which the State will not assert rights and will refrain from bringing legal actions during the correction of the initial registrations in the National Cadastre, at any stage, whether judicial or non-judicial. They concern many thousands of properties throughout the country, both urban and rural, and are expected to deliver the first positive results shortly, bringing an end to the long-standing ordeal of citizens who have spent years engaged in legal disputes with the State in order not to lose their properties.

The first fundamental rule of general application introduced by Article 12 of the law, which concerns every property, is that the State does not assert rights where the citizen acquired ownership through a title based on a transaction for consideration (typically through purchase) registered by 5 June 1993, or through another derivative method of acquisition with a title registered by 11 June 1975. This requirement is also fulfilled through the titles of predecessors in title. In other words, anyone holding a valid title registered within these time limits is fully protected against any claim by the State.

Beyond this general rule, the law also includes a specific provision for rural properties, namely properties owned by the State and managed by the Ministry of Rural Development and Food, addressing a long-standing injustice that particularly affected their holders. For these properties, the State will no longer assert rights and will refrain from bringing legal actions where citizens possess them pursuant to temporary concession documents or distribution procedures, as well as where their settlement was authorised by the public authority itself within the framework of agricultural distributions, land consolidations and refugee rehabilitation procedures.

In these cases, citizens did not settle on the properties arbitrarily, but following instructions from the State itself, which subsequently sought to claim as its own the property it had previously granted. The new provisions rectify this injustice and restore the fundamental consistency required by the rule of law, ensuring that the State does not challenge a lawful possession status that it itself established.

The above circular provides detailed instructions to the competent Regional Units for the uniform implementation of the new provisions, specifies the required supporting documents for proving citizens’ rights, and clarifies the cases in which the State must refrain from asserting rights and from pursuing legal claims over properties managed by the Ministry of Rural Development and Food, thereby facilitating the immediate implementation of a reform expected to provide a definitive solution to thousands of pending property ownership cases.

The most significant innovation of the same article, however, is that for the first time in 111 years, and specifically since 1915, when the inalienability of State rights and the prohibition of adverse possession against the State were established, a long-standing, good-faith possessor of a property may be judicially recognised as its owner against the State.

Specifically, it is sufficient that the State has not exercised acts of possession after 23 February 1946 and that the individual has possessed the property in good faith, pursuant to Article 1042 of the Civil Code, for at least forty (40) years before 19 March 2003, including the period of possession of their predecessors in title. This constitutes a reform of historic importance, which finally restores, to a significant extent, legal certainty regarding private real estate ownership in Greece.

3. Within the coming days, a decision by the Governor of AADE is expected regarding the possibility granted by law (Article 18) to permanently release seized properties for transfer, provided that a percentage of the consideration (to be determined by AADE based on the amount of the debt and the proceeds received from the transfer) is withheld by the Notary Public and remitted to AADE.

This decision will determine the procedure, the form of the seizure release decision, its duration of validity, and the criteria regarding the debtor’s tax compliance and the collectability of the remaining debt. The purpose of this regulation is to enable property owners with accumulated debts to sell their seized properties while simultaneously reducing their liabilities.

4. Within the next few days, a Joint Ministerial Decision (JMD) is also expected to be issued by the Ministers of Justice, National Economy and Finance, Environment and Energy, and Digital Governance, together with the Governor of AADE, whereby (Article 15) the Notary Public is established as a “one-stop shop” for property transfers arising from sale, gift or inheritance.

This decision will determine the date on which the notary one-stop-shop service under Article 15 will commence operation and the regions of the country where it will apply. Citizens will henceforth address a single point of contact, their notary, who will undertake the entire process, from the collection of the required documents to the drafting and registration of the deed at the Cadastral Office, making use of interoperability capabilities with all public authorities, services and the National Cadastre.

Within this framework, the notary will collect electronically the required documentation, including cadastral information, proof of tax and social security clearance, the electronic building identity certificate where issued, and will complete and submit transfer tax declarations. The notary will collect and remit transfer, inheritance, gift or parental donation taxes, as well as cadastral registration fees.

Furthermore, provided that the contracting parties expressly agree, the notary will be able to receive the consideration into a protected escrow account, withhold from it and remit to the State the amount required for the settlement of the seller’s debts and the lifting of any seizure affecting the transferred property, and pay the remaining amount to the seller.

5. Additional beneficial regulations for citizens are gradually being activated

Law 5293/2026 does not concern only private real estate ownership but also introduces a series of provisions that change the relationship between citizens and public administration, which indirectly also concern property owners. These measures are being activated gradually through the issuance of relevant decisions and circulars by the competent authorities.

The following provisions have already been activated through administrative circulars:

Replacement of supporting documents with declarations of responsibility (Article 3).
The regulation has been in force since the publication of the law. Citizens are no longer required to submit certificates and documents already held in public administration records and may replace them with a declaration of responsibility, while the authority itself retrieves the supporting documents and immediately issues the administrative act.

Digital notification regarding the progress of cases (Article 5).
Each citizen receives a unique code through which they can electronically monitor the progress of their case.

Mandatory publication of circular instructions (Article 6).
An end to “hidden” circulars: administrative instructions must be published by subject category on the website of each authority and on the “Diavgeia” transparency platform and do not take effect before publication. Those currently in force that are not published will cease to apply from 1 October 2026.

Digital notification of public service opening hours (Article 7).
Each public authority is required, from 7 July 2026, to continuously publish on its website its operating hours, public reception hours, lawyers’ reception hours and holidays. Failure to do so constitutes a disciplinary offence.

Compliance of the Administration with court decisions (Article 8).
Citizens who have been vindicated by the courts will no longer need to initiate further proceedings for the decision to be implemented. The Internal Audit Units of each authority will ensure compliance, forward the decision to the competent services, monitor its execution, inform the interested party and report failures by officials to comply with issued court decisions to the competent disciplinary bodies.