Serbia Sets New 400 Square Meter Threshold for Home Fees
Serbia amended the law known as Svoj na svome: houses over 400 square meters now pay a fee only on the excess area, and flats can be registered even when a developer skips payment.
Registering a family house larger than 400 square meters will from now on require a fee only for the area above that limit. The government of Serbia adopted the changes through a draft law amending the Law on Special Conditions for Recording and Registering Property Rights, a statute known informally as Svoj na svome. It is the first correction to the rule since it took effect.
For houses up to 400 square meters, nothing changes: the fee is still calculated under the existing model. The new threshold only kicks in above that size, where a fee equal to the standard building land development contribution is charged for every square meter beyond 400. An owner of a 520 square meter house would therefore owe the fee on 120 square meters, not on the whole building.
In its explanation of the draft, the government says the goal is to stop treating owners of large family houses, particularly in rural areas, the same way as owners of commercial buildings. These are, the explanation adds, multigenerational homes that are not built for the market or for business activity. That is precisely where the problem in applying the law arose: a village house with an extra floor added for a second family easily passes 400 square meters, and under the old calculation it landed in the same bracket as commercial property.
Outbuildings up to 500 square meters stay fee-free
The draft keeps the existing rule for warehouses, storage and farm buildings, other outbuildings, and production facilities: no fee is charged up to 500 square meters. Above that, owners pay 10 euros per additional square meter. There is also no fee for publicly owned buildings intended for public use, nor for those registered in favor of the Republic of Serbia.
Owners of family houses and apartments used for housing are exempt from payment if they fall into one of five categories:
- persons with disabilities
- war veterans
- families with three or more children
- single parents
- recipients of social assistance
What happens when a developer does not pay?
The second part of the amendments addresses a situation where the buyer of an apartment is not at fault in any way, yet goes for years without paperwork. When a developer is known and reachable but fails to settle the required fee, the competent agency can still issue a certificate registering ownership of the building, with a note that the fee has not been paid, while apartment owners receive their own certificates without having to pay anything. If an apartment owner wants that note removed, they are allowed to pay the amount themselves in place of the developer.
The debt does not simply disappear. Case files go to the State Attorney’s Office for forced collection in favor of the Republic of Serbia, and a ban on disposal is registered on any units not yet sold until the obligation is settled.
The amendments also resolve the case of a developer who has vanished. When the developer is unknown or unreachable, a registration application can be filed by a person with a legal interest, or by the manager or professional manager of the housing community. In addition, registering residential and mixed residential and commercial buildings will also be possible using a specification of the building’s individual units, prepared by architectural and civil engineers, alongside the existing geodetic survey report and the sketch of unrecorded units.
Unfinished buildings and the backlog from 2013
The amendments also introduce a procedure for buildings that are already recorded and registered, structurally complete, but still missing interior installations, joinery or facade work. For these, owners obtain a permit under the Law on Planning and Construction, backed by a report on the building’s current condition that establishes the scope of work needed for structural stability, fire safety and safe use.
The timeline reaches back further still. Buildings registered under the 2013 law on special conditions for registering ownership of buildings built without a construction permit, for which no application has been filed under the current law, are now placed on equal footing, in terms of rights and obligations, with buildings registered under the current rule: there is no contribution to pay for them, and any disposal ban recorded over an unpaid contribution is removed.
The government states in its explanation that the amendments do not change the law’s basic goals or concept, but respond to problems identified after nearly a year of application and the processing of a large number of cases. Procedures not concluded by the time the amendments take effect will be finished under the new provisions, and the law takes effect the day after its publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, meaning immediately after adoption in the National Assembly.
