Some do not pay common expenses, another is interested in collecting only the rent and does not pay to repair the apartment building, another occupies common areas, another closes the stairs by placing various objects (from refrigerators to beds) and in general in many cases the situation with the communal buildings is unacceptable and does not resemble a European country.
It is noted that in several cases in the communally owned buildings there are also static problems, while the actions of some tenants/owners also raise safety issues which can prove fatal in the event of a strong earthquake or fire (in terms of escape) and so on.
The whole issue was attempted to be regulated by a bill submitted by the Ministry of the Interior in 2023, but during a debate in Parliament, the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on the Interior, Mr. Aristos Damianou, sent it from where it came from.
The return of the Bill was due to the reactions of the Provincial Self-Government Organizations (EOAs) to which the responsibility for the control of the newly owned buildings ended. It is noted that today the responsibility belongs to the Land Registry Department, which considers that it is not its job to act as the "traffic warden" in apartment buildings, a position which, to a certain extent, is justified. In the context of the reform of the Local Government, it was decided that the responsibility was assigned to the new Municipalities, which reacted, with the result that the hot potato found itself in the hands of the EOA. Some of them accepted the new duties with the grain while others, even if they do not say it clearly, do not want to take responsibility for financial and other reasons.
The last straw was broken after a letter from the five EOAs to the Interior Committee, before which the bill is being discussed.
The letter states that more time is needed to be able to take a position on the bill. The following are also recorded:
"The financial study prepared by the Land Registry Department (in terms of the viability of the whole project) has been sent to the EOAs in December 2025. The analysis of the data and the income-expenditure statement of the new service is pending for the purposes of consultation between the NGOs and then consultation with the competent ministry."
The letter adds that "the lack of structure, the need to find new building facilities and the volume of work of preparing to undertake these tasks (software programs, writing of work roles, automation of processes, transfer of physical files and purchase and installation of machinery/computers), make it mandatory to vote for the transitional period in case of consent to take over the management of jointly owned buildings".
In other words, the EOAs seek to kick the whole thing down.
The president of the Committee, Aristos Damianou, who read the letter, also clarified the following:
"I'm sorry I'm not going to play this game. We gave plenty of time but even now the NGOs are raising issues operational, financial and other and I think that what should have been done was not done. I want to apologize to everyone for the fact that the process was not completed, not through our own responsibility.
A bill was tabled that would regulate the issue of communal buildings, without it being agreed upon, and the EOAs react and as a Commission we believe that they are right to react because it is an additional competence. I recognize that some people should be assigned this responsibility and I personally am of the opinion that it should remain in the Land Registry.
NGOs are called upon to operate to provide this very important service without a permanent solution for reciprocal fees.
Guests come here and the process is not progressing, so you will get the bill when you are ready to come back.
On the part of the Ministry of the Interior (Land Registry) it was said that hard work was done to prepare the relevant study (cost, fees, etc.). We believe, said his spokesman, that a lot of work has been done in cooperation with the HOAs.
Mr. Damianou, addressing those involved and commenting on a relevant report, said: We are returning the bill and when you agree, we will set an extraordinary meeting of the Committee to proceed. The bill has been pending since 2023 and you had to find them.
At the end of the session in the Interior Committee, Mr. Damianou stated:
"While society justifiably expects a modern legislation on communal buildings, a social problem that needs no explanation, the government is also unable to submit a comprehensive and agreed Bill to the Parliament.
In the absence of the Provincial Self-Government Organizations, it decided to give them serious responsibilities, in relation to the supervision and control of communally owned buildings. In fact, without the knowledge of the EOAs, a Bill was submitted, at a time when these newly established organizations are trying to get back on their feet.
The need is a given and I expect with a sense of urgency that the Government will make greater efforts and resubmit an acceptable text to the Parliament.
And because things are very serious, I will under no circumstances accept the mockery of Parliament and the Committee on Home Affairs, which I chair. The need to regulate the issue of communal buildings is a given and I expect with a sense of urgency that the Government will make greater efforts and resubmit an acceptable text to the Parliament.
In reaction, the Ministry of the Interior issued a statement in which it claims that "Mr. Damianos' reports of mockery of the Committee and the body are not true and added that the government "has made every effort to submit a functional and applicable bill".
The announcement also states the following:
"From the first moment, as a Government, we had underlined the need for the immediate promotion of this legislation, which will solve the chronic problems that afflict thousands of owners and tenants in communal buildings.
The bill in question had already been prepared in 2023, before the establishment of the Provincial Local Government Organizations (EOA) and the transfer of licensing responsibility to them, while it was subsequently discussed in the presence of representatives of the EOAs, who were informed about the provisions of the text.
Despite this and taking into account concerns expressed by the EOAs, they were re-consulted, given that based on the legislation from July 1, 2024 they are the competent Building Authority.
In the context of this consultation, the Land Registry Department prepared a study, which includes all the communal buildings, a detailed list of the processing times of the required processes, an estimate of the staff for staffing, as well as proposed fee scenarios to cover the operating costs of the Registration and Supervision of the Operation of the Management Committees of Communal Buildings".
As "F" has already written, there are about 21,000 communally owned buildings representing 219,000 units.
