COMPULSORY ACQUISITION LEGISLATION AND LAND USES A TOOL FOR GOOD LAND ADMINISTRATION. Kyriakos Tsolakis (Senior Land Valuation Officer)

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1 THE DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND SURVEYS MINISTRY OF INTERIOR REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS COMPULSORY ACQUISITION LEGISLATION AND LAND USES A TOOL FOR GOOD LAND ADMINISTRATION Presented by: Kyriakos Tsolakis (Senior Land Valuation Officer) & Efi Savvides (Valuation Officer) The joint FIG COM3, UN/ ECE WPLA & UN/ECE CHLM Workshop Sounio, March 2007

2 COMPULSORY ACQUISITION LEGISLATION AND LAND USES A TOOL FOR GOOD LAND ADMINISTRATION The Republic of Cyprus is a relatively small island of a total approximate area of sq. km. It has become a member of the European Union on the 1 st of May As you may be aware, the island has been invaded by Turkey in 1974 and 40% of this area continues to be at present under occupation by Turkey. Since the 1960s when Cyprus became independent and especially following the invasion of 1974, due to the abrupt shifting of the Greek Cypriot population of the island to the Government Controlled areas, a lot of development projects became necessary to be constructed. Such projects were a considerable number of refugee housing schemes and the basic infrastructure, such as roads, hospitals, schools, e.t.c. Since then, Cyprus has developed its various sectors of the economy. The Government is continuously carrying out a range of projects to assist the development of these sectors, especially the tourist sector, industry, the agricultural sector, technological research and the environment. In order to achieve this, various projects are carried out, such as roads, motorways, airports, power stations, water pipelines, dams, e.t.c. The provision of refugee housing continues to be a major responsibility, as well as the division of building plots for low-income families. Additionally, nowadays, Cyprus is considered by Northern Europeans as a tourist destination, due to its position and the physical characterestics of the island and the Government, through these projects, is commited to improving the quality of the tourist product and assisting this major sector of the economy. All the above projects are carried out by means of the Compulsory Acquisition powers, established by the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus. At present, development works are being carried out throughout the Government Controlled area of Cyprus. A. ARTICLE 23 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS Compulsory Acquisition of immovable property in the Republic of Cyprus is regulated by article 23 of the Constitution, which protects the right of ownership and the peaceful enjoyment of property. The following are the most relevant provisions regarding property rights and cover the basic principles of an equitable system of restrictions on property and compulsory acquisition: 1. The general protection of property rights: The fundamental right of private ownership is protected by sections 1 and 2: s.1. Every person, alone or jointly with others, has the right to acquire, own, possess, enjoy or dispose of any movable or immovable property and has the right to respect for such right

3 s.2. No deprivation or restriction or limitation of any such right shall be made except as provided in this Article. 2. The provision for compulsory acquisition and the payment of just and equitable conpensation: Any restrictions on the right of ownership may be imposed only in accordance with the following sections: s.4. Any movable or immovable property or any right over or interest in any such property may be compulsorily acquired by the Republic or by a municipal corporation or by a Communal Chamber for the educational, religious, charitable or sporting institutions, bodies or establishments within its competence and only from the persons belonging to its respective Community or by a public corporation or a public utility body on which such right has been conferred by law, and only (a) for a purpose which is to the public benefit and shall be specially provided by a general law for compulsory acquisition which shall be enacted within a year from the date of the coming into operation of this Constitution; and (b) when such purpose is established by a decision of the acquiring authority and made under the provisions of such law stating clearly the reasons for such acquisition; and (c) upon the payment in cash and in advance of a just and equitable compensation to be determined in case of disagreement by a civil court. s.11. According to this section any interested person has the right of recourse to the court and any decision of the court may be subject to appeal. The only constraint provided in the Constitution (article 23 para 4), relates to compulsory acquisitions for educational, religious, charitable or sporting institutions, bodies or establishments. The population of Cyprus is approximately 82% Greek Cypriots and 18% Turkish Cypriots. According to this provision any immovable property acquired for these purposes, should belong to persons of the same community who will be using the undertaken project. The same applies in the cases of schools, recreational areas, playgrounds, e.t.c. The Constitution includes similar provisions for the compulsory requisition of property. B. THE PROVISIONS OF COMPULSORY ACQUISITION LAW N.15/62 Within the context of the provisions above and in accordance with the articles of the Constitution, the Compulsory Acquisition Law no. 15/62 came into force

4 1. General Provisions: According to this law, any property (movable and immovable), may be acquired for the benefit of the public. S. 3(2) states that public benefit includes purposes relating to: (a) The defence or security of the Republic; (b) Public safety or public order or public health or public morals (c) The fulfillment of international obligations, (c1) The development, the promotion or protection of diplomatic or political relations or cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Cyprus and the Government of another country. (This paragraph applies only in the case of movable property) (d) The provision or maintenance or development of supplies and services which are essential to the life or promote the well-being or amenities of the people; (e) Agricultural reform; (f) The promotion or development of agriculture, or industry or commerce or tourism; (g) The promotion or development of mining or other similar industry; (h) Archaeological excavations or preservation or enhancement of any ancient monuments or antiquities, or the development of their surroundings; (i) Town and country planning or housing; (j) The provision or maintenance or development of natural resources, including forests and water, and distribution of water; (k) Soil conservation or conservation or development of natural resources, including forests and water, and distribution of water; (l) Better utilization and development of property in the public benefit; (m) The provision or maintenance or development of places of amenity; (n) The provision or maintenance or development of public buildings or public works by the Republic; (o) The attainment or promotion of the objects of co-operatives; (p) The attainment or promotion of the objects of any educational, religious, charitable or sporting institution, body or establishment within the competence of a Communal Chamber; (q) The attainment or promotion of the objects of a municipal corporation, public corporation or public utility body, specifically provided by a Law, (r) The provision or maintenance or development of burial grounds. The term Immovable Property includes land, buildings and other erections, trees and any other thing planted or growing upon any land, springs, wells and water rights, an undivided share in any property, privileges, liberties, easements and any other rights appertaining to any land and over any immovable property and rights restrictive of the use of any immovable property which either lawfully subsist at the time of the acquisition or, though not subsisting at such time, are required to be created for the purposes of acquisition. According to s. 2(1), Acquiring Authority includes the Republic, Municipal Corporations, the Communal Chamber and Legal Persons of Public Interest or

5 Organisations of Public Benefit (public corporations, public utility bodies), to which the law grants the right of compulsory acquisition. The various development works (such as road works, airports, dams, partition of building plots for low-income families or for industrial area developments etc), are planned and executed, independently from the registered owners whose immovable property will be affected. The verification of ownership is performed through the publication of the notice of acquisition. 2. The main steps in the procedure for the Compulsory Acquisition: a) The Acquiring Authority publishes the Notice of Acquisition in the Official Gazette of the Republic. According to Amendment Law No. 135(1)/99, the names and addresses of the owners whose properties will be affected are published in the Official Gazette of the Republic and simultaneously a copy of this notice is served to all affected owners. In this way the affected owners are personally informed of the plans for the intended works. They then have the right to submit their objections within a time limit of 30 days. b) The Acquiring Authority examines the objections and decides accordingly, whether to proceed with the Compulsory Acquisition or whether to abandon or make amendments. In order to confirm the compulsory acquisition the Acquiring Authority then publishes the Order for the Compulsory Acquisition in the Official Gazette. This Order has to be made within a time limit of twelve months from the date of publication of the Notice. c) Following the publication of the Order of Compulsory Acquisition, the Acquiring Authority has a duty within the time period of fourteen months to proceed into negotiations with the owners of the affected properties and to make an offer of compensation within this time limit. d) The compensation is calculated based on the principles laid down by the Constitution and in accordance with s. 10 of the Compulsory Acquisition Law No. 15/62, which will be described in detail further down. e) Upon receipt of the offer, the owners / interested persons may: either accept the compensation offered for full and final settlement of all his/her claims or accept the amount offered reserving his / her right to apply to Court for the determination of the final amount of compensation and giving the required consent for the registration of the acquired property in the name of the Acquiring Authority, when payment of the compensation is made. In this case, he /she has to apply to Court within 75 days from the date of payment of the compensation or refuse or ignore the offer, in which case either the person affected or the Acquiring Authority may apply to Court for the final determination of the compensation (s. 9)

6 f) The affected owner has the right to obtain expert advice as to the compensation payable. In such a case the Acquiring Authority bears the costs of the award and the expenses of the expert appointed by the owner. g) Interest at the rate of 9% is payable on the amount of compensation from the date of the publication of the Notice of Compulsory Acquisition to the date of payment. This provision makes the amount of compensation more tolerable to the affected persons as the actual payment of the compensation may take place a considerable amount of time later. h) Possession of any property may only be taken upon the payment of compensation calculated according to the rules explained above or where the property is required immediately, by the publication of an Order of Requisition and the payment of the market rental value of the property. For immovable properties that are used as homes or as business premises and are occupied, expropriation may be made and possession is taken only following an Order of the Court. 3. The provisions regarding Compensation: The rules of assessment of the compensation are laid down in s.10 of Law N.15/62. This section applies to both immovable and movable properties as follows: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) the value of the property shall,, be taken to be the amount which the property, if sold in the open market on the date of the publication of the relative notice of acquisition by a willing seller, might be expected to realise; no allowance shall be made on account of the acquisition being compulsory, except where such acquisition is made for mining purposes; in the case of immovable property which, at the date of publication of the notice of acquisition, was in the possession of the acquiring authority under the provisions of any law relating to the requisition of property, compensation shall be estimated without regard to any increase in value on account of works made or constructed on, or development or improvement of, or additions to, the immovable property aforesaid during the period it has so been taken possession of; the special suitability or adaptability of the property for any purpose shall not be taken into account if that purpose is a purpose to which it could be applied only in pursuance of statutory powers or for which there is no market apart from the special needs of a particular purchaser or the requirements of any acquiring authority; where the value of the property increased by reason of the use thereof in a manner which could be restrained by any court, or is contrary to law or is detrimental to the health of the occupiers or to the public health, the amount of the increase shall not be taken into account;

7 (f) (g) (h) (i) (j) (k) (l) (m) (n) in the case of property of which part only is acquired account shall be taken of the increase or decrease, in the value of other property held by the owner ; account shall be taken of the damage by reason of the severance of the property ; in the case of compulsory acquisition of immovable property whose value has been affected by the imposition of any restrictions under the provisions of the Ancient Monuments Law or any other Law, every compensation payable according to s. 23 of the Constitution is also calculated (s. 6a of Amendment Law N.25/83); in the case of immovable property and with a view to the avoidance of the payment of double compensation, every compensation is calculated under the Rent (Control) Law ; in the case of immovable property which at the date of publication of the notice of acquisition was, and but for the acquisition would continue to be, devoted to a purpose of such a nature that there is no demand or market for immovable property for that purpose, the compensation may, if reinstatement in some other place is bona fide intended, be assessed on the basis of the reasonable cost of an equivalent reinstatement; in the case of an easement, privilege or liberty over any immovable property or account shall be taken of any diminution of the value ; where, at the date of the publication of the notice of acquisition, the property referred to therein was, and but for the acquisition would continue to be used for the carrying on of any business, trade, profession or vocation, account shall be taken of the loss, if any, directly sustained by any person interested by reason of his being dispossessed of the property under this Law; the provisions of paragraph (a) shall not affect the assessment of compensation for any other matter not directly based on the value of the property acquired; on the payable compensation it is calculated yearly interest at 9% from the date of publication of the notice of acquisition until the time of payment of the compensation (s. 6b of Amendment Law 25/83); For the purposes of calculating the compensation under paragraphs (f) and (g) of this section regard shall be had to the existing facts at the time of the publication of the notice of acquisition (s. 6c of Amendment Law 25/83). All the provisions above are important in calculating the amount of compensation. However, the basic principle used is the market value of the property under valuation at the date of the publication of the notice. This value is then adjusted accordingly to consider any betterment or injurious affection on the remainder of the property, or

8 other adjoining property belonging to the same owner of the acquired property. Any other limitations imposed on the property are also taken into account, as well as any damage caused to any business carried out on the property acquired. 4. The persons entitled to compensation: According to s.11 (1) of the Law N.15/62 the person entitled to compensation is the owner of such property and (a) (b) where the property is pledged or charged with the payment of any sum secured by a mortgage, registration of judgment or any other encumbrance or charge there shall be paid to the respective pledge, mortgagee, judgment creditor or other person in whose favour such encumbrance or charge operates the whole or such portion of the compensation to satisfy, in whole or in part, the sum due thereunder, ; where any property is under any lease, hiring or hire-purchase agreement, there shall be paid to the lessee, tenant, hirer or hire-purchaser such portion of the compensation payable as shall be sufficient to compensate him for the termination of his lease, tenancy, hiring or hirepurchase agreement, as the case may be. There are also relevant provisions for application to Court or the determination of a right or an interest on the property and to be eligible to compensation (s.11 (2)). 5. The payment of compensation: S. 12 provides that the payment is made promptly and in cash to the person interested. Subsection (2) provides that if any of the persons interested does not consent to receive the compensation or if on account of disability or absence from the island of Cyprus the payment of such compensation cannot be effected, the acquiring authority may, subject to any directions of the Court, deposit the amount of such compensation with the Accountant General of the Republic. No taxes are levied on the compensation amount, for example Capital Gains Tax. However, the taxes owed prior to the compulsory acquisition are deducted from the compensation (s.12 (3)). When the compensation is paid the acquired property may be registered in the name of the Acquiring Authority. In the case of small amounts of compensation, where the value of the acquired property does not exceed the amount of 1.000, or the amount of compensation does not exceed the amount of 500, the compensation may be deposited with the General Auditor of the Republic. This gives the right to the Acquiring Authority to proceed with the registration of the property in its name. The owner continues to have the right to apply to Court within 75 days from the date the compensation is actually paid (s.13 and 13A). 6. The provisions regarding disposal of acquired property:

9 The property acquired may be used only for the purpose for which it was acquired. S.15 of the Law N.15/62 provides certain rules in case of surplus immovable property acquired or where the purpose of the acquisition has been achieved, granting the original owner the first option to demand the property back, by paying the original amount of compensation paid irrespective of time spent. No interest is added nor is the current value of the property calculated. The intention for these provisions is that the property should be only acquired if it is absolutely necessary for a certain purpose. If that purpose ends or is abandoned, the original owner has a primary right to that property. Only in the case where the purpose of the acquisition has been fulfilled and the immovable property is required for another purpose it may be retained with a Retention Order. The basic principle underlying all the above provisions is that the right to own either immovable or movable property is protected by the Constitution and the relative legislation. This right cannot be destroyed or diminished without the payment of just and equitable compensation. 7. The provisions regarding notices and agents: Notice or communication may be served personally or sent by registered post addressed to the last known place of residence of the person for whom the notice is intended (s. 17). If the person has a guardian the notice has to be sent to the guardian. If the person is absent from the island of Cyprus, additionally to the above provision, a copy of such notice or communication shall be published in a newspaper circulating in Cyprus and also posted up at a conspicuous place in the town or village in which the person to whom it is addressed had his last known place of residence in the island of Cyprus. Additionally, if the notice is addressed to a person whose address is not possible to establish or it regards property under dispute and the owner of the property is not possible to be found and if it is addressed to a person with whom it is not possible to have unobstructed communication, as a result of the emergency «ekrythmos» state, notice is given by its publication in a newspaper circulating in the Republic of Cyprus and also posted up at a conspicuous place in the town or village in which the immovable property concerned lies (Amendments17.1.b). It is an offence to destroy or damage property between the date of the notice of acquisition until the date of its completion or abandonment (s.19). C. THE PROCEDURES OF COMPULSORY ACQUISITION

10 The Department which deals with the Compulsory Acquisitions in terms of preparation of the work involved in all the procedures and providing assistance to the Acquiring Authorities is the Department of Lands and Surveys. This is the Governmental Department which is responsible for the registration, the surveying, the mapping and the valuation of immovable property. The main procedures involved in a compulsory acquisition are the following: to prepare the plans for the proposed project to carry out the necessary land surveying work to prepare the ownership details to be published with the Notice of the Compulsory Acquisition to carry out the necessary valuations when the acquisition is confirmed to commence the procedure of negotiating with the affected owners and finally, to make an offer of compensation for the compulsory acquisition. to prepare the valuation report for the Court (reasoned decision) in the case of disagreement regarding the amount of compensation to appear at the hearing of the case as an expert witness and to testify regarding the valuation to make the payment of the compensation to register the compulsorily acquired property in the name of the Acquiring Authority and issue amended certificates of ownership. The last two steps are in fact only the beginning of a very long process at the Court. Nowadays, due to the huge increase in land prices being experienced in Cyprus, the settlement of these cases is not an easy undertaking. The majority of the affected owners apply to Court, for the final settlement of the amount of compensation and the procedure may take some years to reach either a settlement between the two paties or for the Court to reach a Decision following a hearing. The Valuation Branch of the Department is responsible amongst other things to carry out all the valuations for the calculation of compensation for the majority of the compulsory acquisitions of the Republic. Only very few valuations are carried out by private valuers which are registered with E.T.E.K., the Cyprus Technical Chamber. These valuations concern compulsory acquisitions carried out by certain bodies, such as Municipal Corporations and other organisations of Public Benefit. The restriction is also in terms of the amount of compensation and any case above the amount of has to be approved by the Department of Lands and Surveys

11 According to the Annual Report for the year 2005, the work completed by the Valuation Branch of the Department of Lands and Surveys in respect of compulsory acquisitions is shown in the following table and charts: TOTAL PAYMENT OF COMPENSATION COMPULSORY ACQUISITION LAW N15/62 YEAR 2005 DISTRICT TOTAL AMOUNT OF COMPENSATION TOTAL AMOUNT OF INTEREST TOTAL AMOUNT PAID FOR LEGAL AND VALUATION FEES AND EXPENSES TOTAL AMOUNT FOR YEAR 2005 Nicosia , , , ,37 Limassol , , , ,45 Paphos , , , ,49 Larnaka , , , ,22 Ammochostos , , , ,61 TOTAL , , , ,

12 According to the same report, the total number of applications to Court for the years by District is shown tables and charts: TOTAL No. OF APPLICATIONS TO COURT BY AFFECTED PERSONS YEARS DISTRICT No. OF APPLICATIONS Nicosia Limassol Paphos Larnaka Ammochostos TOTAL

13 As shown on the above table, the annual budget of the Department of Lands and Surveys for the compulsory acquisition cases, for the year 2005, was around 25 million and this year is expected to be even higher. This figure is considered relatively high for the size of Cyprus. Of course, all the above figures apply to the Government - Controlled area and this is the reason for not including the District of Kyrenia in the above tables and charts. The Department of Lands and Surveys has carried out a study, in 2004, in relation to the acquisitions that have been carried out since 1974 until The extent of properties which have been affected by compulsory acquisition within this period is around 2% of the total area. D. THE VALUATION PROCESS The valuation process is a difficult task as the valuer has to be aware of all the relevant rules of assessment of the compulsory acquisition legislation. These have been explained above. The market value of a property is affected by the use of the property, its planning zone, its legal and physical characterestics. There are various methods of valuation which are applied depending on the type of property and the interest valued. Primarily, the valuations are based on comparables sales of similar properties in the surrounding area. Additionally, however, in certain cases the other valuation methods, the investment method, the profits method, the contractor s method and the residual/development method are also applied. As the values of the properties have risen very rapidly, this makes the valuation of a property more difficult as the date of valuation is fixed, it is the date of the Notice of Acquisition and any increase thereafter is not considered. However, to balance things, interest at a high rate of 9% is payable. In any case, these increases make it impossible for the valuer to achieve the settlement of cases of compensation. E. THE PLANNING LEGISLATION AND LAND USES The planning characterestics of the property is an important factor determining its value. The existing planning system in the Republic of Cyprus is governed by the Town Planning Law N 90/72 which provides for the preparation of Local Plans for the major urban areas and for the Countryside policy for the remainder of the area. The Local Plans cover all the towns and some other developed areas. Planning zones have also been prepared for most of the villages. The major planning zones are the residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, tourist zones and the protected areas. Each planning zone has a certain plot and coverage ratio. For any development there is a requirement for a planning permission and also for a building permit. The Planning Authorities responsible for the planning permissions are the major Municipal corporations of the cities and the Planning Department for the other parts of the urban areas. The building permits are issued by the municipal corporations. For the villages and the countryside the Planning Department is responsible for the planning permissions and the District Officer for the building permits

14 On completion of the construction of a building a Certificate of Final Aproval is issued to certify that the building was in accordance with the permits issued. The majority of the constructions in Cyprus do not have a Certificate of Final Aproval. The reason for this, is the fact that the owners of the buildings are not obliged by law to proceed with the issue of this certificate. A Board has been established for the consideration of planning deviation, which examines mainly small illegalities, such as changes of use in divergence of the planning zones and excessive building density (plot or coverage ratio) above the allowed. This Board considers each case on its own merits and decides accordingly imposing the necessary conditions. A major problem faced in Cyprus is the sale of large numbers of homes and appartments by the developers from an early stage, at the time of preparation of the plans. These buildings are eventually built with illegalities and for this reason no title of ownership may be given to the purchasers. This is a major problem, which the Government attempts to face by introducing an amnesty law which allows purchasers and developers to obtain a title provided that they pay for any illegalities. This measure does not seem to be as successful as expected, as the burden has been again shifted on the purchasers rather than on the developers who had the responsibility for the illegalities of the buildings. F. THE GOVERNMENT S POLICY REGARDING HOUSING With the arrival of all the second home buyers from European and other countries, a huge increase in land prices has been experienced. Along with this increase in demand, the increase in the cost of labour, the introduction of V.A.T. on the sale of properties, the increase in the cost of the raw materials, are only some of the reasons for the rapid increase in the value of houses and apartments. Additionally, people in Cyprus view immovable property as a profitable investment, due to the increasing land prices and the relatively low interest rates. The planning system has provided for sufficient land to be zoned as residential in order to be available for development. However, the major problem is that the largest extent of this land has no access to a public road and cannot be developed. It is therefore land locked. This means that the development of residential areas has shifted in other areas, causing land prices to increase in these areas as well. This increase is making it much more difficult for people to afford to buy a house or an apartment and it is becoming a major concearn for the Government, since Cypriots are predominantly owner- occupiers. As a result, the Government is considering other solutions in order to provide sufficient and cheaper land for development. The following are the existing Government policies regarding housing, relating to compulsory acquisition: the compulsory acquisition of land and the construction of housing for refugees the registration of the refugee housing in the name of the occupiers, in some cases and subject to certain conditions the compulsory acquisition of land and its division into building plots for low and middle income families

15 the establishment of the Land Development Corporation, with compulsory acquisition powers, to acquire land, which is then developed with houses and apartments for low and middle income families. In respect to other policies, the Government offers the following: a relatively small grant to all refugee couples loans with low borrowing rate and long repayment periods for low income families and for refugees the establishment of the Housing Corporation for the provision of loans with low borrowing rate and long repayment periods loans with low borrowing rate and long repayment periods for the regeneration of certain areas for listed buildings, the Government's policy for the preservation of the traditional architectural character of areas, provides for grants amounting to 50% of the cost of refurbishment and subsidies on the interest paid. There are tax exemptions on their income and on transfer fees. Additionally, by way of compensation, the owner has the right to sell the unexhausted density (plot ratio) of the property the introduction of land consolidation legislation which is currently under consideration, for land locked areas, where with the consent of the owners of the land, the Government will proceed to develop and enforce an appropriate plan for the area which, subject to the approval of the owners of the area, will be then enforced. The adjustments made to the plots of land will be compensated acoording to the value of each plot before and after the consolidation scheme. The plots after the consolidation will be building plots ready for development. G. CONCLUSIONS To conclude with, the tool of compulsory acquisition is a very useful tool for the provision of housing, especially in cases of emergency. Thirty three years after the Turkish invasion, the Government is continuing to develop refugee housing and to refurbish the existing housing estates. There are other additional tools which could make a significant difference in the provision of housing and are to a certain degree related to compulsory acquisitions. These tools include, as mentioned above, land consolidation procedures, which are to a certain degree similar to the concept of compulsory acquisition, with the difference

16 that the owners are involved in the decision making process and remain owners after the project. Land use planning is another efficient tool which may be tailored-made according to the needs of the society and it can be used to manipulate land values. Finally, regeneration schemes of areas such as inner cities, especially in large countries, where the problem of abandonment may be more acute is a prudent solution which may offer additional benefits. Finally, an important obstacle which has to be overcome is that of planning enforcement. In the case of Cyprus, as in the case of Greece and other countries, there should be sufficient control of development, in order to allow for this sector to develop without the problems of illegal buildings and the problems with their registration. The provision of housing is a social undertaking but is also a major sector contributing to the economy of a country and it should be supported to develop unobstructed from such problems