On Tuesday, the Parliamentary Committee on Refugees discussed a bill proposed by DIPA MP Michalis Giakoumis, which allows for the assignment of the valuations of occupied or inaccessible properties of beneficiaries or other persons to approved private appraisers, in the context of evaluating applications to the Equal Burden Distribution Agency (FIKB) for the provision of financial assistance or determining the amount of each assistance.
In his statements after the end of the Committee session, DIPA MP Michalis Giakoumis said that "we are not changing the public character of the Agency - we are giving it the tools to work. Delays cannot hold the displaced hostage. We want speed, transparency and service," he stressed, calling on everyone to support the proposal in principle.
"We support the families of the displaced, with measures that respond to today's reality," he concluded.
The President of the Association of Real Estate Appraisers, Polys Kourousides, expressed the Association's readiness to proceed with assessments of occupied property with the aim of refugees submitting the assessments to the Equal Burden Distribution Agency and for these applications to be examined much more quickly to facilitate the refugee community.
In response to a question, Mr. Kourousidis explained that there will be a special fee, which the expert appraisers will be able to discuss with the FIKB and the Land Registry Department. At the same time, he pointed out that the valuation of occupied properties cannot be done with the same criteria as properties in the free areas, because there is no access to the occupied properties and an on-site inspection cannot be carried out. Currently, the FIKB values the occupied properties based on 1974 prices and uses a price coefficient of 36.
The Director of the Bank Borrowers Protection Association, Jenny Papacharalambous, expressed her belief that the proposed law will speed up the process of assessing occupied properties and will be to the benefit of all displaced persons in order to proceed with loans. She also noted that she suggested at the Refugee Committee meeting to change the assessment coefficient for occupied properties, given the value that properties are currently receiving.
Source: KYPE
