Filenews 19 November 2023
It interests or affects about half of the population of Cyprus with tens of thousands of people suffering for years.
And yet the issue was not regulated by law when other issues, which may affect individuals or businessmen, were resolved from time to time and not in the public interest but in such a way as to serve those who have "edges" or backs with parties or MPs of parties that are "sacrificed", in fact, in the name of the citizen.
The regulation concerns common buildings, which, according to what the Commissioner for Legislation mentioned at the last meeting of the House Standing Committee on Internal Affairs, amount to 200,000 units. These units mainly concern apartments in apartment buildings, although in them there are also houses that are part of building complexes that were sold either to locals (for home ownership or holiday purposes, or to foreigners (also for home ownership or as holiday homes).
If it is considered that two people live in each unit, then the residents amount to 400,000, if it is calculated that three people reside then their number amounts to 600,000, ie equal to or exceed half the population of Cyprus.
But what is considered a shared building? According to the "Immovable Property (Possession, Registration and Valuation) Law (Cap.224)", a jointly owned building is one that consists of at least five units, even if it with all its units belongs to one owner" (owner).
Quilt fight
In most cases, what is said in Cyprus "the fight is about the quilt" applies, referring to the finances and the way they are distributed among the various owners/tenants (eg communal expenses, maintenance, etc.).
So who pays for the above or other expenses? According to existing legislation (in the chapter "Costs for maintenance, etc. 38K) "the owners of all units shall contribute to the costs necessary for the insurance, maintenance, repair, restoration and management of the joint property and for ensuring the services specified by ... the Regulations. The proportion of each owner's share of the costs shall be determined by the Regulations on the basis of the area of each unit."
Fine, the legislation says fine. Which also provides that the Management Committee must insure and always keep the jointly owned building insured, against fire, lightning and earthquake, to a licensed insurer for the amount that the Management Committee will consider to correspond to its replacement value...
So what are the powers of the Management Committee? Always based on the present legislation (38KH) "the Management Committee, inter alia, has the power to:
(a) To establish and maintain a fund which in its judgment is adequate and which it may use;
(i) For management costs and for the control, operation, management and management of the joint ownership and for the payment of insurance premiums; and
(ii) for the performance or fulfilment of any of its responsibilities, duties or obligations;
(b) determine from time to time the amounts to be collected... and the time and manner of payment of the amount ... ;
(c) to collect the amounts thus determined by imposing a contribution on the owners of the units pursuant to Article 38K;
(d) recover by lawsuit from the owner any amount of money spent by the Management Committee on repairs or works carried out by it or at its discretion in order to comply with any notice ordered by a competent administrative body, authority or person in relation to a part of the building that includes the unit of that owner.
Non-application
The above provisions and the current legislation in general, are simply not applied in many cases because they are not so mandatory or because recourse to justice is provided for with all that this entails in terms of time. It is worth noting that in some cases the responsibility lies with the owners, while there are also cases where managers act arbitrarily by charging as they see fit existing or non-existent works and services, whether these are required or not, resulting in reactions or from owners or even being used by them as a pretext to avoid paying the amounts allocated to them by the management committee.
Interests
Added to the whole equation is the fact that some of the residents are not owners, so due to the temporary nature of their stay they are not interested in whether or not money will be invested to improve safety or for beautification purposes. However, there are also cases of landlords who are only interested in collecting rent, so they do not cooperate.
At the same time, there are owners who wish to live in a safe and tidy building themselves or even rent it at the highest possible rent, which, of course, depends on the image not only of their own apartment but also of the building itself.
And why not, there are those who bought an apartment exhausting all their savings and do not have money for the good image of the building. Then, with the occasional economic crises, not everyone has the money for maintenance that is necessary (for safety reasons) or if they are simply related to the landscaping of the building, something that they do not classify as their priority issues. Let us not forget that some tenants or owners are already retired and their incomes are enough and not enough to make ends meet.
Whatever the reason someone does not contribute to the common expenses or to the maintenance or reinforcement of a building, it is expected that balconies of apartment buildings fall or generally there are buildings that have their "black crap".
With this and that, the situation reached an impasse, which led DISY MP Marios Mavridis and AKEL to submit separate bill proposals in order to regulate the issues of shared buildings. Along the way, the official side tabled a bill and that is what is now being discussed before the House Committee on Internal Affairs. The most basic and the most "hot" issue that should concern everyone, is the issue of the safety not only of the occupants of the common buildings but also of those passing under them. The issue could be solved with the periodic inspection of the buildings proposed (for years) by ETEK, but because we live in Cyprus and because this has a cost for the owners, the process of approving relevant legislation is "trained" until the knot reaches the comb either with a fatal accident or otherwise, which will lead the public opinion to say "finally do it".
What the official version says
According to the official version, as reflected in the explanatory memorandum accompanying the government bill, its purpose is "to define a framework for regulating common buildings for their smooth operation, management and supervision at administrative and legal level, due to the need arising from the evolution of housing reality".
Based on the same text, the above need stems from the following three main causes: (a) Due to the weaknesses and certain gaps identified during the implementation of the current legislation, (b) due to the need for the responsibilities of the Department of Lands to focus only on issues of ownership and registration of common buildings, (c) due to weaknesses in existing management practices of shared buildings, as well as the need to ensure more effective management implementation, given that various unit owners evade their obligations and many properties are not adequately maintained, with various risks lurking for their safety and the safety of third parties.
In this regard, it is mentioned that the proposed Bill regulates issues related to the management and operation of common buildings as well as their supervision by the competent authority. Each unit owner and the Management Committee in a jointly owned building will have obligations and rights to regulate the various issues arising from it.
Finally, it is mentioned that the proposed regulation will solve several of the problems of owners in shared buildings.
The main changes
One of the main changes is that apartment owners who do not pay their common expenses will not be able to sell or rent them. In order for someone to sell his apartment, he must obtain from the Management Committee of the apartment building a "certificate of payment of common expenses". The relevant bill states that "the certificate is necessary for the alienation or lease of the unit in accordance with the Transfer and Mortgage Law, or for the assignment of the contract of sale of the unit in accordance with the Sale of Real Estate (Special Execution) Law, or for the lease of the unit, which will certify that the common expenses have been paid and no amount is due". It is clarified that "the certificate of payment or the relevant certificate may also be issued by a legally authorized representative of the Management Committee".
The bill also regulates issues of static adequacy of buildings and, by extension, safety of owners/tenants, since provisions for the execution of works were included, by decision of the management committee.
The same bill also addresses any arbitrariness, in the sense that it provides for the prosecution of either the owner or the management committee before a Court, if they carry out works without permission from the competent authority.
The provisions of the bill "The Management of Common Buildings and Related Matters Law of 2023" cover not only registered common buildings but extends to all common buildings, which have obtained a building and division permit, regardless of the fact that they have not obtained a certificate of approval and / or have not been registered in the cadastral register and consequently no separate titles of units have been issued.
The powers of the Management Committee are broad
According to the promoted bill, each jointly owned building must have a Management Committee to regulate and manage its affairs. The Committee may:
- To impose penalties on owners for non-payment of common expenses related to access or passage through common areas, for the repair of which the owner or owners of the units did not contribute.
- To control, operate, manage and direct the joint ownership and the common building and to take any action necessary for the enforcement of the Standard or Internal Standard Regulations and to ensure the services specified by or pursuant to this Law or the Regulations.
- To maintain in good and functional condition and maintain the common property and such other parts of the common building, improvements and appendices, or pursuant to this Law or the Regulations.
- To provide facilities and services for common areas only to owners who do not owe common expenses, provided that it does not deprive absolute access to their unit.
- To establish and maintain a cash register and an account with a credit institution from the contributions of the common expenses of the owners of the units pursuant to Article 20 and from other amounts decided from time to time at the general or extraordinary general meeting, which in its judgment are sufficient and which may use:
- For management costs and for the control, operation, management and management of joint ownership and for the payment of insurance premiums;
- For repairs, renovation, energy upgrade and maintenance of the common building.
- To convene a general meeting of owners at least once a year or within 26 months and any other meeting determined by this Law or the Internal Regulations and to keep a record of its decisions.
- Comply with any settlement agreement, notice, order or other decision of any competent administrative body, authority, mediation or court or person with respect to joint ownership.
It is noted that the competent Service creates and maintains a register of Joint Owned Buildings, from data through the Central Information Warehouse and the contribution of the Department of Lands and Surveys, as well as the Competent Urban Planning, Municipal Authorities and District Administrations of the Republic.
