EU TELLS ALBANIA TO RECTIFY TITLE DEED ISSUES
March 06, 2009
Helmuth Lohan, the EU’s ambassador to Albania’s capital Tirana, said that the issue has eroded domestic and international confidence in the property sector and is restricting the country’s economic progress.
“Clear property titles and legal security are essential prerequisites for the prosperous development of the country, the attraction of foreign direct investment, social peace, as well as for the country’s European integration process,” he said.
Lohan cited several examples of projects being delayed because of the problem, in particular the planned Club Mediterranee resort that has been delayed for five years due to “uncertain ownership of land” on the Adriatic coast.
Albania has also come under fire from the researchers of the International Property Rights Index 2009 (IPRI), which placed the country in the bottom part of the ladder, amongst countries such as Guyana, Zimbabwe, Chad and Bangladesh – out of a report on the property markets in 115 countries.
Despite this, projects are still being announced in the country, with property professionals hoping that Albania’s Mediterranean location and relatively cheap prices will attract credit crunch weary investors.
Estate agency the Albania Property Group recently announced the sale of new beachfront developments in Vlora City and in Shengjin, while overseas agency Property Abroad has added the new Kashar View project in Tirana to its portfolio.
Fresh Property Albania, a Tirana-based agency, has started marketing the Saranda Sunset View resort off-plan, and said that the issue will hopefully resolve itself as Albania, Montenegro and Macedonia, which also scored poorly on the IPRI, move towards EU membership.
“The only thing they [property professionals] can do is advise their clients to purchase cautiously and to check and double check everything,” said FPA director Fiona Bosticky. “Either way, this issue hasn’t stopped hundreds of Kosovans, Macedonians, Greeks and Italians snapping up properties around Albania and on the coast. Western property investors seem to be getting left behind.”
Source -OPP