The new Law on Registration Procedure in Real Estate Cadastre (Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 41/18) came into force on 8th June 2018.

This law regulates procedures for registering real estate, rights, pre-registrations and records that relate to real estate. The law has the ambitious aim of increasing the efficiency and timeliness of the real estate cadastre, as well as simplifying and accelerating the procedure for registering rights.

The greatest new introduction is that applicants will no longer need to physically visit real estate cadastre services, with requests instead submitted in the form of an electronic document, via an electronic counter. Furthermore, it is also prescribed that registration procedures in the real estate cadastre be initiated and conducted ex officio by notaries, public enforcement officers, courts and other state bodies, on the basis of the documents composed or adopted, though without excluding the possibility of procedures being initiated at the request of the applicant in certain cases.

Cadastre officials will no longer check the legality of public documents formalised by notaries that form the basis of applications for registration, which implies the much greater efficiency of the actual registration procedure, while deadlines for cadastral entries have been reduced to five working days (with the exception of more complex individual procedures where the 15-day deadline has been maintained). Solutions will be issued in electronic form and delivered electronically to applicants, while delivery will be proven via the electronic confirmation of the receipt of the document (invoice).

An undeniable increase has been noted in the number of building permits issued since the introduction of the unified procedure. However, room exists to improve communication between investors and the bodies responsible for issuing these acts

Our committee will closely monitor the implementation of this Law and the gradual transition from written to electronic operations within the cadastre.

When it comes to construction, the latest World Bank data ranks Serbia 10th when it comes to the issuance of construction permits, which represents an exceptional leap compared to the ranking of 152nd that Serbia had just two years ago. Judging by official statistical data, an undeniable increase has been noted in the number of building permits issued since the introduction of the unified procedure. However, investors continue to assess that communication should be improved with the bodies responsible for issuing acts in the unified procedure.

Problems related to the conversion of user rights to ownership rights, unfortunately, remain the same as in previous years. A large number of conversion procedures have been halted, with the main reason being the continuing controversial provisions of the law that governs conversion with charges, which envisage that conversion procedures must be halted until the concluding of restitution procedures with regard to the real estate in question, even in cases when it is not legally possible to restore the natural form of a given property.

The FIC Real-Estate Committee will continue to monitor the regulatory activities of state bodies and provide recommendations aimed at improving regulations in the construction and real estate domain.

The new Law on Registration Procedure in Real Estate Cadastre (Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 41/18) came into force on 8th June 2018.

This law regulates procedures for registering real estate, rights, pre-registrations and records that relate to real estate. The law has the ambitious aim of increasing the efficiency and timeliness of the real estate cadastre, as well as simplifying and accelerating the procedure for registering rights.

The greatest new introduction is that applicants will no longer need to physically visit real estate cadastre services, with requests instead submitted in the form of an electronic document, via an electronic counter. Furthermore, it is also prescribed that registration procedures in the real estate cadastre be initiated and conducted ex officio by notaries, public enforcement officers, courts and other state bodies, on the basis of the documents composed or adopted, though without excluding the possibility of procedures being initiated at the request of the applicant in certain cases.

Cadastre officials will no longer check the legality of public documents formalised by notaries that form the basis of applications for registration, which implies the much greater efficiency of the actual registration procedure, while deadlines for cadastral entries have been reduced to five working days (with the exception of more complex individual procedures where the 15-day deadline has been maintained). Solutions will be issued in electronic form and delivered electronically to applicants, while delivery will be proven via the electronic confirmation of the receipt of the document (invoice).

An undeniable increase has been noted in the number of building permits issued since the introduction of the unified procedure. However, room exists to improve communication between investors and the bodies responsible for issuing these acts

Our committee will closely monitor the implementation of this Law and the gradual transition from written to electronic operations within the cadastre.

When it comes to construction, the latest World Bank data ranks Serbia 10th when it comes to the issuance of construction permits, which represents an exceptional leap compared to the ranking of 152nd that Serbia had just two years ago. Judging by official statistical data, an undeniable increase has been noted in the number of building permits issued since the introduction of the unified procedure. However, investors continue to assess that communication should be improved with the bodies responsible for issuing acts in the unified procedure.

Problems related to the conversion of user rights to ownership rights, unfortunately, remain the same as in previous years. A large number of conversion procedures have been halted, with the main reason being the continuing controversial provisions of the law that governs conversion with charges, which envisage that conversion procedures must be halted until the concluding of restitution procedures with regard to the real estate in question, even in cases when it is not legally possible to restore the natural form of a given property.

The FIC Real-Estate Committee will continue to monitor the regulatory activities of state bodies and provide recommendations aimed at improving regulations in the construction and real estate domain.