Suzanne
23-03-07, 12:02 PM
Owners of real estate agencies said that land buying and selling deals have been blocked since the start of 2007, Bulgarian-language daily Dnevnik reported on March 9.
The estate agencies were quoted as saying that there were two reasons. First was a lack of clarity about the conditions for land use that will be set by the Natura 2000 ecological network and the newly approved Sofia master plan, which changed land use status in some regions. Problems also apparently have arisen because of recently approved amendments to the Agricultural Land Use and Ownership Act, which, according to Dnevnik, caused a quarrel between land leaseholders and owners.
By law the landowners should first offer their property to their lessees and only if lessees refuse the offer may landowners to sell the land to a third party.
Because of this decree, deals were failing on an everyday basis, north-eastern Bulgaria real estate agent Spektar M told Dnevnik.
The owner of Gradev Agency, Valentin Gradev, said that the leaseholders had in effect become the landowners. The problem was that to be able to sell his land, an owner should submit a declaration signed by the lessee saying he has declined to buy the property in question for the price offered.
The law does not set time limits for signing the declaration and this contributes to the process being slowed down, Gradev said.
Another real estate agent, Sketur Yug, said the situation was causing land prices to fall.
The chairman of the Association of the Grain Producers Stelyan Stoyanov said that because of the amendments, the real prices of deals involving cultivated land would become apparent. Stoyanov said that until now owners of farmland had declared lower prices in order to avoid tax. He said that leaseholders had been buying land to cultivate it, in contrast to real estate agents, who bought it for resale.
Another landowner who recently sold his land to a leaseholder said that thanks to the new law, he had managed to save the commission that would have had to be paid to an agent. “I informed myself about the sale price, I called the leaseholder and we immediately went ahead with the deal, he paid me as much I as wanted,” he said.
According to him, the leaseholders refused to sign the required declaration when sellers tried to pressure them through proposing inflated prices.
Stoaynov said that for years, leaseholders had wanted restrictions on farmland sales. “We invested in the fields, we drilled them, we used costly fertilisers, and a little bit before the harvest, the owner sells the land to another farmer,” Stoyanov said.
Plot sales are also blocked in the seaside and winter resorts, but there the main reason was the obscurity around Natura 2000, said Gradev. He said that Environment and Water Affairs Minister Djevdet Chakurov had said that construction would not be banned in sites included in the network, but Chakurov had also not confirmed that construction would be allowed, and this was discouraging investors from buying land.
Adrek executive director Katya Tsenova said recently that in the Varna region several big investment projects had been put on hold because of similar problems around Natura 2000, Dnevnik reported.
Orvitex owner Orlin Vladikov said that plot deals in Sofia were blocked because of the new master plan. There are approved detailed structure plans. But according to the new approved law, they will have to change in compliance with the new master plan. Vladikov said that investors who had already bought land could not build now, and were having to wait for the drafting of the new plan, which would have greater limitations.
Approached for comment by The Sofa Echo, Mirela EOOD houses and plots sales manager Daniela Kotseva said that Natura 2000 was only a project that had not yet been approved. “This ecological network exists on the territory of whole Europe and it is proposed that Bulgaria enters it with certain zones,” she said. In her opinion, even though the plan is not yet approved, “it is blocking the development of traditional tourist regions, such as Razlog, Bansko and Irakli.”
Kotseva agreed that the new Sofia master plan was blocking deals in regions where regulations had been changed. Future amendments would be made exceptionally difficult, and this was making investors think twice about future purchases.
Kotseva said that it was possible that this would lead to a slight decrease in prices in the southern parts of the city, where prices were unrealistically high, and in future only single family dwellings would be built. On the other hand, for the newly restored arable lands falling into Sofia’s building boundaries, there were very good prospects, because the master plan expanded the regions available for building in Sofia and this gave clarity to investors, she said.
“There are several factors for the relatively decreased number of plot deals in Sofia since beginning of 2007. The main factors are the higher price levels, which investors have difficulty in overcoming, and the decrease in offers. Only after these two factors come the changes approved within the new master plan,” Kotseva said.
She said that clients who had bought land in Sofia in the past year had no reason not to develop their investment intentions: according to the new master plan, property which falls into the boundaries of zones where house construction is allowed is unaffected by the changes.
“Even thought the master plan was approved only recently, buyers and real estate agents have long since been taking it into consideration,” Kotseva said.
The new amendments in the Agricultural Land Use and Ownership Act were made mainly in article 4A, where private or legal entities can sell land to third persons only after they showed written evidence that they proposed the land to leaseholders by same conditions. According to Kotseva, this refered mainly to productive agricultural land that was to be used solely for agriculture.
Elitsa Grancharova
www.sofiaecho.com
The estate agencies were quoted as saying that there were two reasons. First was a lack of clarity about the conditions for land use that will be set by the Natura 2000 ecological network and the newly approved Sofia master plan, which changed land use status in some regions. Problems also apparently have arisen because of recently approved amendments to the Agricultural Land Use and Ownership Act, which, according to Dnevnik, caused a quarrel between land leaseholders and owners.
By law the landowners should first offer their property to their lessees and only if lessees refuse the offer may landowners to sell the land to a third party.
Because of this decree, deals were failing on an everyday basis, north-eastern Bulgaria real estate agent Spektar M told Dnevnik.
The owner of Gradev Agency, Valentin Gradev, said that the leaseholders had in effect become the landowners. The problem was that to be able to sell his land, an owner should submit a declaration signed by the lessee saying he has declined to buy the property in question for the price offered.
The law does not set time limits for signing the declaration and this contributes to the process being slowed down, Gradev said.
Another real estate agent, Sketur Yug, said the situation was causing land prices to fall.
The chairman of the Association of the Grain Producers Stelyan Stoyanov said that because of the amendments, the real prices of deals involving cultivated land would become apparent. Stoyanov said that until now owners of farmland had declared lower prices in order to avoid tax. He said that leaseholders had been buying land to cultivate it, in contrast to real estate agents, who bought it for resale.
Another landowner who recently sold his land to a leaseholder said that thanks to the new law, he had managed to save the commission that would have had to be paid to an agent. “I informed myself about the sale price, I called the leaseholder and we immediately went ahead with the deal, he paid me as much I as wanted,” he said.
According to him, the leaseholders refused to sign the required declaration when sellers tried to pressure them through proposing inflated prices.
Stoaynov said that for years, leaseholders had wanted restrictions on farmland sales. “We invested in the fields, we drilled them, we used costly fertilisers, and a little bit before the harvest, the owner sells the land to another farmer,” Stoyanov said.
Plot sales are also blocked in the seaside and winter resorts, but there the main reason was the obscurity around Natura 2000, said Gradev. He said that Environment and Water Affairs Minister Djevdet Chakurov had said that construction would not be banned in sites included in the network, but Chakurov had also not confirmed that construction would be allowed, and this was discouraging investors from buying land.
Adrek executive director Katya Tsenova said recently that in the Varna region several big investment projects had been put on hold because of similar problems around Natura 2000, Dnevnik reported.
Orvitex owner Orlin Vladikov said that plot deals in Sofia were blocked because of the new master plan. There are approved detailed structure plans. But according to the new approved law, they will have to change in compliance with the new master plan. Vladikov said that investors who had already bought land could not build now, and were having to wait for the drafting of the new plan, which would have greater limitations.
Approached for comment by The Sofa Echo, Mirela EOOD houses and plots sales manager Daniela Kotseva said that Natura 2000 was only a project that had not yet been approved. “This ecological network exists on the territory of whole Europe and it is proposed that Bulgaria enters it with certain zones,” she said. In her opinion, even though the plan is not yet approved, “it is blocking the development of traditional tourist regions, such as Razlog, Bansko and Irakli.”
Kotseva agreed that the new Sofia master plan was blocking deals in regions where regulations had been changed. Future amendments would be made exceptionally difficult, and this was making investors think twice about future purchases.
Kotseva said that it was possible that this would lead to a slight decrease in prices in the southern parts of the city, where prices were unrealistically high, and in future only single family dwellings would be built. On the other hand, for the newly restored arable lands falling into Sofia’s building boundaries, there were very good prospects, because the master plan expanded the regions available for building in Sofia and this gave clarity to investors, she said.
“There are several factors for the relatively decreased number of plot deals in Sofia since beginning of 2007. The main factors are the higher price levels, which investors have difficulty in overcoming, and the decrease in offers. Only after these two factors come the changes approved within the new master plan,” Kotseva said.
She said that clients who had bought land in Sofia in the past year had no reason not to develop their investment intentions: according to the new master plan, property which falls into the boundaries of zones where house construction is allowed is unaffected by the changes.
“Even thought the master plan was approved only recently, buyers and real estate agents have long since been taking it into consideration,” Kotseva said.
The new amendments in the Agricultural Land Use and Ownership Act were made mainly in article 4A, where private or legal entities can sell land to third persons only after they showed written evidence that they proposed the land to leaseholders by same conditions. According to Kotseva, this refered mainly to productive agricultural land that was to be used solely for agriculture.
Elitsa Grancharova
www.sofiaecho.com