One of the biggest problems in the development of real estate in Cyprus is a lack of roads in development areas. There are extensive areas of land within development zones that cannot be developed because there is no road access to them.
Areas such as ‘Eleonas’ in Nicosia, Agios Tychonas in Limassol, coastal areas in Paralimni and others remain unexploited because there is no road access to them.
Roadless land is at the mercy of nearby property that has a road. The prevailing tactic for granting access to enclosed land is to impose conditions at the stage of development of land with a road, that road must be build to serves the land behind.
This system is correct, but what happens if the property with a road is not developed, if, for example, the owner is not interested in developing it, or if it is inherited by multiple people as often happens in Cyprus. In these cases, landlocked land can be stuck in limbo for decades.
The owners of land without access have the right to demand a passage through the Land Registry and in case of residential development (for a house) the length of the passage should not be more than 600 feet. In the case of agricultural parcels it is 1,000 feet. So, although this right offers a chance for development, it only applies for smaller properties near the road.
The situation is unfair to owners of landlocked land having economic and social consequences for them and the public at large.
It also adds to the shortage of plots available for development, pushing land prices up and creating the need for continuous expansion of cities.
Furthermore, industrial and tourism development is hindered.
A new approach to dealing with this situation is necessary. I suggest that, just as there is the right to secure passage through adjoining lands, there should also be the right to build a road by third parties through them.
The owner of an enclosed estate should be able to apply to the town planning authority to prepare a plan for the construction of a road through adjoining properties to their own and the applicant construct it up to the earthworks stage, except for the part that is within the applicant’s estate which should be fully constructed.
Once the planning permission is obtained, it should be submitted to the Land Registry for the demarcation work and execution.
There would be various procedural issues that need to be clarified, such as regarding objections by owners to the route of the road and so on.
The dirt road should facilitate the division of the property being served into plots and/or its development. The road should be registered as a public road with the condition for its complete construction in stages when the benefiting land is developed.
Provision of services such as connecting electricity, laying of water pipes and so on should be paid for by the original applicant, but this cost should be refunded if other property owners make use of these services within five years.
The cost of the road can also be borne by the local authority to be recouped from the owners with interest of 5 per cent from the date of construction. This amount could be collected by the authority when issuing building permits for these properties.
Dirt roads like this are constructed by local authorities mainly in industrial areas, such as Dali and Kaimakli, with great success, offering the opportunity to the landlocked estates to develop.
No compensation should be paid by the applicant to the affected estates (as for example in the case of passage) because the applicant would be implementing a plan that the owners would be required to do in any case when they develop their own property, and this is beneficial to them rather than damaging.
The existence of these roads will increase the supply of development estates and allow for better town planning. Plots will be offered within the periphery of the cities, saving huge amounts of money in terms of transit time, installation of services, construction of schools and avoiding other problems created by the continuous expansion of cities.
The implementation of this idea would cost the state almost nothing, while the government and the public have everything to gain, except of course for the large land owners who may be negatively affected by the possible reduction of land prices as a result of increased supply).
Antonis Loizou & Associates EPE – Real Estate Appraisers & Development Project Managers, www.aloizou.com.cy
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