Doing Business in Greenland - Book - Page 12
6 Real Property
6.1 No private ownership to land
In Greenland, there is no private
ownership of land as all land
belongs to the public. An area
allotment for a specific area may
be granted by the local authorities
upon application giving the right to
use the area for a specific purpose,
such as the construction of
buildings or other facilities.
The right to mineral exploration or
exploitation in a certain area is
regulated under the Mineral
Resources Act.
Even though the land belongs to
the public, there are no landowner
or indigenous rights to the interests
in Greenland.
6.2 Area allotment
Pursuant to the area legislation, it
is possible to obtain a right to use a
certain area for a specific purpose
(area allotment).
The authorities for areas within
town zones are the relevant
municipalities,
while
the
Government of Greenland is the
relevant authority for open land,
but see chapter 7 regarding
mineral resource activities.
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An area allotment is granted upon
application giving an exclusive
right to use the area for the
specific purpose applied for (e.g.,
construction of buildings) for an
indefinite period of time. However,
area allotments may be subject to
certain conditions, e.g., that a
building permit is applied for or
construction must be initiated
within a deadline.
6.3 Stamp duty
As a main rule, assignment of real
property is subject to stamp duty.
The stamp duty amounts to 1.5
percent of the purchase value of
the property, but not less than the
market value. Mortgage deeds are
also subject to a stamp duty of 1.5
percent of the nominal value of the
mortgage deed.
Prior to the grant of an area
allotment, an application will be put
out for consultation with certain
exceptions.
A right to an area allotment is
personal and transfer thereof is
subject to approval by the
government. Also, an area allotment itself cannot be subject to
sale or pledge.
It is a condition for the transfer of
an area allotment that the transfer
also involves a building. However,
in this respect the municipalities
have
in
practice
accepted
transfers involving purchase and
sale of a value added to the area,
e.g. a foundation for a building.
Charlotte Pedersen
Partner, attorney-at-law
cp@nuna-law.gl
Kista Høegh Niclasen
Partner, attorney-at-law
kh@nuna-law.gl
