The government decided yesterday to change the rules for providing title deeds to old buildings without titles, functional land and yards in use, turning the physical enclosure on the ground into one of the main proofs of land ownership.
According to the decision amending DCM No. 827 of 2020, “effective possession” shall mean the possession of the land or yard in function of the facility, proven through the fencing ascertained during the field inspection.
Practically, if a citizen has an old apartment without documents and uses a fenced area around it, the Cadastre can transfer ownership of up to 300 square meters of functional land.
But putting up a fence is not enough to gain ownership. The object must be included in the categories covered by the law, while the ASHK must verify the time of construction, the owner, the area, the boundaries and the legal status of the land.
This process mainly benefits the owners of buildings built before August 10, 1991, who do not have a title deed, as well as people who have a document for the apartment, but not for the yard or land they use around it.
When the land is state-owned, has an unverified owner, or there is no information on ownership, an area of up to 300 square meters can be transferred to the owner free of charge.
If the land is privately owned by another person, the possessor does not receive it for free. He must pay the value of the land according to the preferential price and facilities provided by law, while the registered owner is treated according to compensation procedures.
In cases where the land is partly state and partly private, the Cadastre may transfer ownership of an area smaller than 300 square meters, avoiding infringement of private property when the division is physically possible.
The new rule could create disputes in areas where property boundaries are unclear, where there is overlap, or where multiple people claim the same area. Using fencing as proof of ownership could also increase conflicts over fences that have been in place for years or have been recently erected.
For this reason, the fence observed on the ground cannot be automatically considered a title deed. It serves as evidence of the surface area that is allegedly used, while the final decision is made by the local directorate of the ASHK after verifying the documentation and legal status.
The procedure can be initiated by the Cadastre itself, through “door-to-door” checks according to cadastral blocks, or by the citizen through an application in “e-Albania”.
When the procedure for a residential building is initiated by the ASHK, the citizen does not pay the standard fee. When applying on their own, they must pay 10 thousand lek, a fee that is not refunded even if the application is rejected. /skyweb.al