The document on ownership of real estate in Montenegro (list nepokretnosti) may contain the note "nema dozvolu," which means "no building permit." Having discovered such a phrase, the conclusion follows that it refers to “illegalized” or “illegal” real estate. In Montenegro, there are many buildings that were built without the appropriate building permit, but are nevertheless used, sold, inherited and have been in circulation on the real estate market for decades.
The root of the problem with illegal real estate in Montenegro dates back to the beginning of the collapse of Yugoslavia in 1991, when new independent states emerged on the territory of this country. New territorial development plans were often delayed, and in some regions detailed urban plans (DUPs) were not developed for 20-30 years. This meant that many property owners were unable to obtain official planning permission.
After building their houses, the owners registered them with the cadastral and tax services. The state took over these buildings and issued a certificate of ownership (a sheet of insignificance) with the note “Nema Gradzevinske dozvole,” which meant the absence of a building permit. Despite this, such objects remained in circulation on the real estate market, and various transactions could be carried out with them, including sale, gift and rental. This situation affected not only private owners building houses for their own residence, but also developers, which led to the appearance on the market of many apartments in multi-storey buildings without the necessary building permits.
The process of real estate legalization has the following stages:
1. Submitting an application.
2. Receive confirmation of the application.
3. Conducting an analysis of the seismic safety of the facility.
4. Making a decision on legalization.
To legalize houses with an area of up to 500 square meters, the following set of documents is required:
- An application that can be submitted either by the owner of the property or his representative. a licensed specialist, such as an architect.
- Certificate of ownership, the so-called “sheet of insignificance”.
- Survey of the condition of the object (elaborat), certified by a licensed geodetic organization. It is required to provide three copies of this document, as well as a copy of the cadastral plan or an extract from it.
- Seismic safety certificate, which must also be developed by a licensed specialist.
- Architectural design, provided in triplicate and carried out by a licensed company. It contains information about the basic characteristics of the object, including foundation drawings, cross sections, facades, as well as a description of engineering solutions and communications. For properties used as the main residence, an architectural design is not required.
If you decide to buy “illegal” housing, we recommend following these tips:
1) Check whether the current owner of the property has submitted documents for legalization and whether they have been accepted by the local authorities. If documents for legalization have been submitted and the owner has an “Elaborat” (technical document), then you may just need to wait for the start of the legalization process by the cadastral service in your region.
2) Please note that when the state determines tariffs for connecting to city communications, known as “utilities,” you will have to pay to legalize your housing. On the coast, this fee is planned to range from €70 to €150 per square meter of real estate, depending on factors such as proximity to the sea, year of construction, etc. With a one-time payment, the amount can be reduced by approximately 40%, and the state also provides the option of installments for 10 years.
3) Contact our specialist to find out all the details. Our specialist will help make sure that the technical conditions were met during the construction of the building, and that there are no illegal buildings or possible problems on the site, such as state roads, which may be planned to cross your land in the future.