Nearly a century after the 1929 law that first set the rules for horizontal property, meaning apartment buildings, which were rare back then but now number in the millions, Greece’s basic legal framework for co-owned buildings has barely changed, and it’s now creating major, often unsolvable problems for millions of property owners.
Whether it’s building bylaws that residents can’t agree on, unanimity requirements that block even essential renovations, or properties with multiple co-owners who simply can’t reach agreement, leaving thousands of buildings to fall into disrepair, co-ownership disputes have become one of the biggest drivers of court cases, wasted property value and, ultimately, housing shortages.
A sweeping legal overhaul
For the first time in decades, the Justice Ministry has announced a fundamental overhaul of the law governing co-owned properties, with a focus on several key changes.
Among them: adjusting the voting thresholds required for decisions in apartment buildings, so issues can actually get resolved instead of residents constantly ending up in court under the current system, which requires near total agreement.
The bill would also allow for meaningful division of jointly owned assets so properties don’t sit abandoned, letting them be put to productive use for the benefit of everyone involved. Large properties could also be split into smaller units so an owner could divide and make use of a bigger property.
Short-term rental revamp
New provisions would also cover short-term rentals, an area that’s currently barely regulated, where some buildings allow them and others don’t, sending residents into court to sort it out. The bill would also address the common problem of residents failing to pay their share of building expenses, and would expand and clarify the powers of building managers on many fronts.
Justice Minister Giorgos Floridis and Deputy Minister Ioannis Bougas, who presented the bill’s main provisions, said the goal is to replace the current tangle of rules, which has bred friction and disputes, with a flexible, clear, modern legal framework capable of resolving conflicts, encouraging better use of real estate, and helping families coexist smoothly in apartment buildings.
Over those 97 years, Greece has seen 1,116 legislative amendments and interventions on apartment ownership rules, and the burden on the courts has been enormous. Floridis said that in practice, courts, and the Supreme Court in particular, have effectively been legislating through their rulings.
Floridis had first flagged these property law changes back in May, during a plenary session of the presidents of Greece’s bar associations in Delphi.
Deputy Justice Minister Bougas also stressed that the new provisions will fully respect both constitutional protections and European rules safeguarding property rights.
A special committee of experts will now draft the bill in detail, with a finished version expected by September.
