Filenews 23 September 2025 - by Vasos Vassiliou
The suffering of hundreds of thousands of tenants of communal buildings, perhaps for the first time, is so close to being addressed, given that a relevant bill is entering the final stage of discussion before the parliamentary Committee on the Interior.
Through the provisions of the promoted legislation, order is brought to the anarchy that prevails and which makes life unliveable for many affected.
As it has been reported before the Parliamentary Committee on the Interior, the communal buildings are around 200,000, so if two people live in each unit, then we are talking about 400,000 people, while if three people live we are talking about 600,000 people. It is noted that jointly owned buildings include not only apartment buildings but also houses which are parts of building complexes sold either to locals or foreigners, for the purpose of owner-occupancy or holidays.
The relevant bill "The Management of Communal Building and Related Issues Law of 2023", for the provisions of which objections had been raised, was further processed and the Minister of the Interior, Mr. Konstantinos Ioannou, sent a relevant letter to the Parliamentary Committee on the Interior, before which the whole issue will be discussed the day after tomorrow, Thursday.
The minister's letter states, among other things, that the management committee is given the opportunity to carry out static, mechanical and electrical inspections by professional members of ETEK.
It is noted that the non-performance of static inspections was one of the reasons why many buildings and especially apartment buildings remained at the mercy of time without inspection and without maintenance and a typical example is the fall of balconies or the collapse of walls and so on.
Now, and provided that the relevant provision is approved, the owners or even the tenants will know "where the building in which they live stands" from a static point of view.
At the same time, the deletion of the article that provided for the conduct of regular inspections of the communally owned building is considered a negative development. With the regular inspection, it was ensured that the maintenance would not be led from postponement to postponement but the control would be determined. However, the Minister of the Interior explains in his letter that "this provision is planned to be incorporated in a future amendment to the Regulation of Roads and Buildings Law (Chapter 96).
"Nevertheless," the minister adds, "a relevant provision has been included in another article, which allows the Management Committee to carry out such audits." However, in this case, how regularly an inspection will be carried out will depend exclusively on the management committee of each communally owned building, which will not only be left to its will but also to whether there is money in the fund for any maintenance that will be required.
However, the management committee will determine the amount to be paid as a reserve fund for the purpose of repairing the communal building.
Owners/residents of communal buildings will also pay:
> Heating: Includes heating costs, maintenance and repair costs of machinery, some installation, other central heating.
> Utilities: Includes cleaner's salary, cleaning materials, elevator maintenance, electricity and water consumption, decoration of common areas, emptying of cesspools and any other expenses related to the provision of services.
> Other expenses: They include insurance, general repairs of a communal building, elevator, plumbing and electrical installations, insulation, environmental upgrade.
One of the provisions that caused reactions concerns the prevention of the sale of a unit (communal building) when the affected person does not pay the utilities due to him. It is noted that the non-payment of common expenses by owners or tenants was and is a point of friction in communal buildings, which is estimated to be addressed by the promoted legislation.
The management committee will have the power to issue a certificate of payment of common expenses, which will remove any problems in the transfer, provided of course that there are no other pending issues.
The Minister of Interior informs the Parliament that the legislative technical review by the Attorney General of the Republic on the revised text of the relevant bill, which has been submitted before the House of Representatives and is being resubmitted for the purpose of continuing the debate, has been completed.
The completion of the legislative technical review refers to the fact that there are no legal obstacles to the provisions of the bill, so significant obstacles that usually arise in the examination of bills have been overcome.
Additional legislative improvements
Mr. Ioannou informs the chairman and the members of the Parliamentary Committee on Interior that this revised text incorporates the suggestions and observations submitted by the stakeholders, as well as additional legislative improvements.
These include the following amendments:
> Added interpretation for the "General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)".
> Added interpretation for "Communal Building Management Company".
> Added interpretation for "Register of Owners".
> Designation of the Service as the relevant Provincial Self-Government Organization.
> Introduction of the mediation process as a way of resolving disputes between owners and the Management Committee.
> Introduction of an article on the control of passive and active fire protection systems.
> Introduction of an article regarding the protection of personal data and related amendments to various provisions of the bill to ensure compliance with the relevant legislations.
In the explanatory memorandum signed by the Attorney General, it is stated that the purpose of the (bill) is to define a framework for the regulation of jointly owned buildings, which aims at their smooth operation, management and supervision at an administrative and legal level, due to a need arising from the evolution of the housing reality in the Republic.
Mr. Savvidis observes that the amendment of the legislation is necessary due to the weaknesses in the existing management practices of communal buildings, as well as the need to ensure a more effective implementation of management, given that various unit owners escape their obligations and many properties are not adequately maintained, with various risks lurking for their safety and the safety of third parties.
Specifically, the Attorney General adds, with the proposed Bill, issues related to the management and operation of communal buildings as well as their supervision by the competent Authority are regulated. 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.
