When the Land Registry details of properties in the Chania area were posted for verification in May of this year, the emailed notification urged owners to confirm or correct their details by 27th July, “thereby avoiding solutions involving court procedures which are costly in time, money and inconvenience”. While the deadline was extended by a few days, it was to be expected that some, if not many property owners would fail to meet it, either through ignorance or through trust in the traditional Greek approach which says that deadlines are there to be broken and a future solution will be found. A press release issued by the Land Registry on 20th September on 20th September confirms that they were not mistaken. The development was reported on the early morning ERT News programme, and subsequently on the ERT News website:

On 18th September a new digital platform was inaugurated by the Land Registry to allow changes to the details of properties recorded on the Land Registry database. As reported on the morning ERT News programme “Weekend from 5”, the new process will to a large extent replace the previous time-consuming practice, whereby property owners were obliged to submit such applications in person at Land Registry offices, providing documents and topografika and waiting for the process to be completed.

Interviewed on the ERT news programme, the President of the Land Registry Thanos Lipas explained that the new platform can be used in cases where there are mistakes or inaccuracies in the geometric data recorded on a property, such as its boundaries, area, plan and position. When asked how this related to the previous programme in which such changes had to be notified by the end of July, so that theoretically the Land Registry was up to date, he said that it would cover cases where, for example, the property was being transferred through sale or a parental gift and some errors in the geometric details were discovered. Also there were still outstanding cases where owners had been abroad during the public consultation period or had simply been negligent, and there were now procedures for dealing with these.

The process now takes place electronically
The property owner can enter the platform with their Taxisnet codes and choose the property and the Land Registry Number (KAEK) of property they want to change. They must then choose the civil engineer to whom the case is to be assigned. The engineer takes charge of the technical procedure and submits the supporting documents required, which will include the topografiko, the relevant technical details and the title of ownership.

The important point is that the owner does not need to manage the whole technical process by themself. The owner submits the application and thereafter follows its progress online.

Neighbours are also informed
One of the basic safeguards of the new process concerns the owners of adjacent properties. If the required geometric corrections affect a neighbouring property, its owner is informed electronically. Thus, they have the possibility of either agreeing to the correction or submitting their own objections and the data which, in their opinion, prove that the proposed change is incorrect.

In this way, the process does not rest solely on the declaration of one owner, but provides for the informing and participation of those who are expected to be affected by the change.

Decision within ten days
According to the head of the Land Registry, if there is a disagreement between the owners involved, the case is assigned to a certified Land Registry engineer, who is required to give a decision within ten days. If there is disagreement with the decision, there is the possibility of recourse to an appellate body, a process which should be completed within 30 days.

This change aims to significantly reduce the time required to resolve differences which in the past could possibly delay a transfer, parental provision or gift.

From queues and paperwork to online monitoring
Mr Lipas laid particular emphasis on the change which has taken place in the operation of Land Registry Offices over the past few years. As he said, the scenes of previous years, with queues of citizens waiting from the early hours of the morning and files full of documents, are now a thing of the past.

The new process transfers one more part of the Land Registry’s operation online. At the same time the citizen now has the possibility of following the progress of their case digitally and to be informed when the relevant decision has been given.

What happens with previous errors and outstanding cases
The inauguration of the new platform does not mean that the previous processes have been entirely abolished. As Mr Lipas explained, the procedures for dealing with obvious errors and other extrajudicial processes already provided for continue to exist.

A special case is that of properties which were not declared within the deadline and appear on the Register as “owner unknown”. If the owner possesses the relevant titles and contracts, there are procedures whereby they can request the correction of the record. As Mr Lipas noted, when the case is more complex, the citizen can apply to a professional such as a civil engineer or a lawyer, according to the type of problem.
(ERT News, 20/09/26)

How to access the platform
The Greek word for “changes” is metavoles, and the address of the website in question is https://metavoles.ktimatologio.gr. To date there is no English option. On opening the site, the homepage carries three buttons, for Individual citizen (Politis), Civil engineer (Michanikos), and Legal representative (Dikastikos epimelitis). We entered via the button for individuals and on submitting our Taxisnet codes were presented with a page carrying two links – one to start a new change application and the other to read the User Manual, which is strongly advised. The User Manual turned out to be a downloadable PDF of 59 pages, all in Greek. Choosing “New application” brought us via two further links to a page which was supposed to show the KAEK of any properties we owned; however, none were listed. There was also a Land Registry map of the country which is clearly intended to be interactive, enabling one to identify one’s property, but it was non-operative.

The absence of any KAEK listing could, according to a further prompt, be for a number of reasons, and one was advised to consult a civil engineer or lawyer. This seems like good advice in all circumstances since, apart from the language problem, the process is clearly quite complicated. In addition, the Land Registry’s original press release on the subject carries a proviso which says:
“In the current phase, the platform supports applications in which all those involved, according to the data held by the Land Registry, are natural persons or legal entities [i.e. individuals or organisations]. Excluded are the Greek State, bodies of the General Government and properties with an unknown owner.”