It’s no longer called the Law on Legalization (Zakon o legalizaciji), nor the Law on Legitimization of Objects (Zakon o ozakonjenju), but rather the Law on Special Conditions for Recording and Registering Rights to Real Estate (Zakon o posebnim uslovima za evidentiranje i upis prava na nepokretnostima). However, for easier understanding, we will refer to it as the Legalization Law, which is essentially what it is.
During the ten years of existence of the still-valid Law on Legitimization of Objects, out of approximately 2 million illegal buildings identified in 2015, only 320,000 objects have been legalized. Meanwhile, an additional 400,000 new illegal structures have been built. This has led to a situation where we currently have about 2.1 million illegal structures and 2.7 million legally built structures that have not been registered in the cadaster. Clearly, the Law on Legitimization of Objects, the satellite images taken in 2015 that were supposed to represent the final “snapshot” of the situation, and the Criminal Code which defined illegal construction as a criminal offense, have not produced results and have not been properly enforced.
In the hope that the new Legalization Law will truly represent a final solution to illegal construction in Serbia, the following is an explanation of the legalization procedure, as well as potential problems in the law’s implementation.
- Subject of Legalization
In principle, the subject of legalization can be all illegally constructed objects, as well as buildings for which a temporary construction permit was issued, or a construction permit was issued but the deadline for obtaining an occupancy permit has expired.
Structures built on public purpose land can also be legalized. However, structures built on public property land, in natural or cultural heritage protection zones, in the immediate sanitary protection zone, or in the expropriation zone of main roads cannot be legalized.
- Legalization Procedure
The procedure is conducted via a special digital platform jointly established by the Agency for Spatial Planning and Urbanism (“Agency”) and the Republic Geodetic Authority (“Cadaster“), which also leads the process.
The process is initiated by applying. The deadline for submission depends on when the law is adopted, but it will likely start to run in mid-November 2025 and will last for 60 days. An application may also be submitted within one year, but only with proof that the person was prevented from submitting it earlier.
It is important to note here that before submitting an application for apartments in buildings, it is necessary to first register the building itself by submitting the geodetic survey report. Only after the application for the residential building is submitted is it possible to submit an application for each individual apartment.
The draft law stipulates that the legalization procedure is urgent. Based on the documentation review and if the conditions for legalization are met, the Agency issues a certificate which it sends directly to the Cadaster for registration. Upon receiving the certificate, the Cadaster also proceeds with an urgent procedure and, regardless of any previously submitted requests, registers the real estate in the cadaster without issuing a separate decision.
- Fees
An interesting and perhaps the fairest solution introduced by the new law is that the basic rule is that the fee for the application and recording of objects (primarily buildings) is paid by the investors, at the rate of the contribution for the development of construction land. However, this applies only if the investor is “available and known”. Thus, investors of residential and commercial buildings will have to pay the fees for recording the objects in significant amounts, even if they have sold the apartments to third parties, provided they are known and available. However, the law does not define what the term “available and known investor” means, so we can only rely on a logical interpretation.
A good solution is that the payment of this fee, when the investor is available and known, is not a prerequisite for recording the real estate. Therefore, owners who bought apartments from investors will still be able to record their apartments even without the investor’s actual payment of the fee, and the state is obligated to pursue a compulsory collection procedure against the investors.
On the other hand, owners of family houses and apartments, where investors are not known or available, will pay significantly lower registration fees, ranging from €100 to €1,000 per property, depending on the zone and city.
- Registration of Ownership in Favor of the State
Buildings built on public property land where the construction of public purpose structures is planned, objects built after the entry into force of this law, or structures for which no applications have been submitted in accordance with this law, will be registered in favor of the Republic of Serbia or removed if the Government of the Republic of Serbia decides it does not need such objects.
- Potential Practical Problems
The main problem is whether the Agency and the Cadaster will truly be able to act quickly and efficiently and make decisions on probably hundreds of thousands of applications within an extremely short timeframe. Based on the experience of local secretariats in charge of regularization so far, it is unlikely that sufficient human resources exist to handle this workload.
The Cadaster will carry out registration or refusal of registration without issuing a formal decision, while only judicial proceedings (not clearly defined which) may be initiated against the Agency’s decision to reject an application. This raises concerns about how citizens can effectively protect their rights if dissatisfied with decisions by the Agency or the Cadaster, creating room for corruption as well as unintentional errors that may be difficult to correct.
In cases where the owners of the objects are not the owners of the land on which the buildings were built, the Agency will instruct them to resolve the right with the competent authority within 5 years. If this does not happen or the procedure is not completed within that time, the landowner may request the removal of the object. This means that if a building was constructed on someone else’s land without any legal basis, the only option for legalization is for the building owner to purchase the land — which the landowner is, of course, under no obligation to sell.
These are only some of the foreseeable issues that may arise in practice once the law is adopted. Also, the above provides only a brief overview of the legalization procedure, while for all additional questions it is necessary to become more familiar with the full content of the law or consult legal advisors.
Contact:
office@dnvg-law.com
This text is written for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. We are at your disposal for any additional information.
