Property law in Greece
Our property lawyers have represented numerous clients and companies in property acquisitions, property rentals as well as title and land valuations in Greece.
Greece, be it the mainland country or the islands, is a very beautiful country, situated in the middle between the West and East as well as being at the heart of the Balkans.
The country is full of investment opportunities as well as ideal for a secondary vacation house.
Unfortunately the prospective buyer must exercise great caution when planning to engage in property transactions in Greece, for a number of reasons:
- Archaic land registration system
- Restrictions imposed by the archaelogical, forestry, tax and municipal authorities
- Restrictions for foreigners acquiring or renting property in Greece
- Complex property law in Greece
- Complex taxation of real estate in Greece
At Latsoudis & Arvaniti our lawyers will give you advice regarding all aspects of buying, selling, renting or even leasing (which is a tax free method of renting with an option to purchase at the end of the lease period) property in Greece as well as advise you regarding tax planning matters of owning real estate in Greece.
Below you may find general information about real estate law in Greece.
For specific advise, feel free to call us at + 30 210 41 76 338 or e-mail us at info@latsoudislaw.com
Acquiring property in Greece
In order for a person or legal entity to acquire property in Greece there are certain steps that have to be followed through.
Search
First of all, the prospective buyer must undertake a search in order to establish the following:
- That the title is clean, free of any encumbrances such as mortgages, pre-notations of mortgages or any other claims – this is achieved through a title check in the land registry or registry of mortgages.
- There are no permissions against the property from either the planning authorities, forest authorities, archaeological authorities – this is achieved through a formal inquiry with the respective authorities.
- There are no tax liabilities on the property – this is achieved through an inquiry with the tax authorities.
- That there are no restrictions on the acquisition of the property for foreigners – this is achieved by a formal inquiry with the prefecture where the property belongs to for European Union citizens and the Ministry of Defence for non –EU citizens.
Sale Process of Property in Greece
Under Greek law the contract of sale for property can only be executed before a notary public.
The buyer must first acquire a tax registration number from the Greek tax authorities and then proceed to pay the tax for the property.
Subsequently, the contracting parties must appear before a public notary along with certain certificates from the tax authorities as well as other documents in order to conclude the transaction.
The transfer is finalised with the registration of the title in the registry of mortgages or the land registry.
Fees & Taxes
Lawyers fees
Greek law provides for a statutory minimum of lawyers fees set at 1 % for a real estate transfer value of euro 44,000, for a value between euro 44.021 and euro 1.467.000 the fees are 0,5% and 0,4% from any amount in excess of euro 1.467.000.
Notary Public fees
The notary public is paid a 1.2 % commission on the value of the transaction as well as a fee depending on the number of pages of the contract.
Taxes
General Transfer tax is set at 9 % for property worth up to euro 15.000 and 11 % for any excess thereof.
If the location where the property is situated is not serviced by the fire brigade, then the tax is 7 % and 9 % respectively.
Additionally, there are municipal duties as well as secondary taxes.
The tax regime regarding property ownership in Greece is complex.
There are tax releases of transfer tax in certain circumstances. Feel free to contact us regarding tax planning in real estate transactions at info@latsoudislaw.com.
