A project backed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is compiling a digital cadastral database of property registrations in 3 979 municipalities in Greece – around 69 % of all municipalities in the country. This project is the final part of a wider initiative to create a complete cadastral database covering the whole country. A cadastral is a recording of property boundaries, buildings and related details.
- 18 September 2019
Municipalities covered by this phase of the project are mostly in rural and mountainous areas, covering a total area of 83 506 m2 or around 63 % of the country’s total area. The estimated number of properties included in the survey is over 16.5 million – equivalent to about 42.5 % of all Greek properties.
Key priority
A modern cadastre is a priority for the Greek government. It provides transparent, legally validated and reliable data to landowners, government services and private investors. Accurate data about property registrations provides legal certainty about property rights, informs decisions about property taxation and makes it possible to use public property more efficiently. A comprehensive cadastre is an essential tool for spatial planning and environmental policymaking.
In recent years, the World Bank – under a technical assistance contract co-financed by the European Commission – has helped Greek authorities prepare the cadastre’s governance regime and deliver related institutional reforms. Assistance included drafting the law that establishes the Hellenic Cadastre Service, which operates under the supervision of the ministry of environment. Support covered preparation of a roadmap to complete and operate a modern cadastre. Efforts have been made to ensure quality control and assurance mechanisms are in place in the services that deal with the cadastre. In addition, the Hellenic Cadastre Service has received help to develop a human resources and corporate strategy.
EU support
This project represents the last step of the overarching programme of activities aimed at creating a county-wide digital cadastral database. In the programming period 2000-2006, the ERDF co-financed the project "Data and IT infrastructure for a modern cadastre”. Further funding was provided between 2007-2013 to co-finance the project “Development of preliminary cadastre base maps and cadastral databases”.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Compilation of preliminary cadastral base-maps and development of the cadastral database for public presentation in the areas of the 4th generation of cadastral surveys” is EUR 320 923 252, with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 83 704 922 through the “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. The investment falls under the priority “Information and Communication Technologies”.