Resource information
Despite several attempts at reform,
immovable property rights in Albania are not adequately
secure and represent an important governance challenge.
Problems have resulted from incomplete first title
registration, the lack of accurate cadastral records, and,
in many cases, the absence of reliable evidence of
ownership. Although Albania has adopted legislation calling
for restitution or compensation for owners whose property
was expropriated under communism, implementation is
incomplete. In Albania, rapid internal migration has
resulted in informal occupation of land and unauthorized
construction on a mass scale, thus compounding the problems
associated with the incomplete transfer of property. During
the 1990s, as much as one-third of the population of some
northern and mountainous regions migrated to urban,
peri-urban, and coastal areas in search of income generation
opportunities, despite the lack of adequate housing
infrastructure or public service provision. Internal
migration continues, albeit at a slower pace. Gaps in
territorial planning legislation and administrative failures
in the issuance of construction permits have made it
difficult to obtain an appropriate construction permit, even
when occupiers have legal title to the land. State
authorities have largely failed to prevent new illegal
occupation of land and illegal construction, and it is
estimated that up to one-third of all buildings in Albania
are illegal due to the occupier's lack of clear title
and/or appropriate construction permit. This review of
immovable property rights in Albania draws primarily upon
this definition, which takes into account the popular
legitimacy of state institutions and respect for the law
among citizens and government institutions the softer
aspects of governance that are essential to understanding
how policies are made and implemented in practice and how
public resources are used.
