“A project that seemed impossible is coming to an end; a 200-year-old unresolved issue has been resolved,” he emphasized at the start of the discussion as part of the event “Land Registry: From a Decades-Long Unresolved Issue to a New Era of Transparency, Speed, and Security,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, while describing the Land Registry as “a reform that symbolizes the government’s effort to overcome the ills of corruption and lack of transparency from the past,” adding that “the goal is to address them all by 2030.”
It should be noted that the discussion—moderated by ERTnews journalist Apostolos Mangiriadis—was preceded by remarks from the Deputy Prime Minister, Kostis Hatzidakis, the Minister of Environment and Energy, Stavros Papastavrou, and the Minister of Digital Governance, Dimitris Papastergiou.
The first to take the stage were the President of the Hellenic Cadastre, Thanos Lipas, followed by the General Director of the Hellenic Cadastre, Olympia Markellou. “No project of this scale can move forward without political will,” emphasized Mr. Lipas, adding, among other things, that “the completion of the cadastre concerns not only the present but also future generations.” For her part, the Director General analyzed the results of the land registry’s digitization, emphasizing that the backlog has been drastically reduced, while cases that had been plaguing citizens and professionals for years have been resolved.
K. Hatzidakis: Full completion of the Land Registry by 2026
“The Land Registry is moving from the phase of constant announcements to the phase of completion and productive operation. A project we’ve been discussing for decades. One that we all recognized as essential, but for a very long time it progressed in slow, piecemeal steps—often agonizing for citizens, professionals, the market, and the Land Registry staff themselves. Thus, one of the most difficult reforms is now being completed, creating certainty and clarity for property owners, professionals, and the state, while boosting investment and growth.”
These points were highlighted by Deputy Prime Minister Kostis Hatzidakis while speaking at the event “Land Registry—From a Decades-Long Pending Issue to a New Era.”
Kostis Hatzidakis recalled that during the 18 months he was in charge of the Land Registry at the Ministry of Environment and Energy:
- Land survey coverage increased from 28% in the summer of 2019 to 65% in December 2020, covering the vast majority (93%) of the country.
- The number of registered property rights more than tripled, from 2.1 to 7.4 million.
- On October 1, 2020, the registration of the Land Registry in the Municipality of Athens was completed after 12 years.
At the same time, measures were taken to modernize procedures. Specifically: the transformation of the 392 old land registries into the 79 modern Cadastral Offices was set in motion. The groundwork was laid for the Digital Cadastre, as starting in the summer of 2020, data submissions, requests for corrections, and applications for certificates were all submitted electronically. And the major project to digitize 600 million pages from the land registry archives began, with funding from the Recovery Fund.
“The measures we have promoted over the past seven years have led to 99% of the country’s territory now having cadastral data available online. And by 2026, we will have fully completed the Cadastre,” concluded Kostis Hatzidakis. “The Land Registry is a long-standing national issue that is finally being resolved, and at the same time, it lays a new foundation that will benefit property ownership, development, and the proper functioning of the state.”
The Minister of Environment and Energy, Stavros Papastavrou, emphasized that the digital transformation of the Greek Land Registry constitutes a historic reform that puts an end to decades of delays, bureaucracy, and uncertainty surrounding real estate.
As he noted, the Land Registry, in conjunction with spatial planning and urban planning, is a key pillar for spatial organization and development, while full digitization and the transition to modern services ensure transparency, speed, and legal certainty. At the same time, he emphasized that this reform strengthens the confidence of citizens and investors, laying the groundwork for a more effective government and a sustainable development outlook for the country.
Dimitris Papastergiou, Minister of Digital Governance and Artificial Intelligence, emphasized that the Greek Land Registry is one of the country’s largest technical and development projects, which is now nearing completion, with cadastral mapping having reached 99% from 38% in 2019.
As he noted, this progress is based on three key pillars: the comprehensive registration of real estate, which ensures legal certainty; the extensive digitization of hundreds of millions of pages of archives; and the migration of systems to the government cloud, which ensures speed and uninterrupted operation. At the same time, he highlighted the contribution of artificial intelligence and digital applications to streamlining procedures and enhancing transparency, emphasizing that the next goal is the full completion of the project and the final resolution of outstanding issues.