3D Registration of Real Property in Denmark

Jantien STOTER, The Netherlands, Esben MUNK SORENSEN and Lars BODUM, Denmark

INTRODUCTION TO REGISTERS ON REAL PROPERTY IN DENMARK

In Denmark there are four basic registers of real properties falling under different authorities:

• the Cadastral register;

• the Land register (Land Book);

• the Building and Dwelling Register;

• the Property Valuation register.

Cadastral Register

The Danish cadastre is maintained by the National Survey and Cadastre (KMS) which is an agency within the Ministry of the Environment.

The Danish cadastre originally started as a system supporting the collection of land taxes. The main objective of the Danish cadastre nowadays is to support an efficient land market, as well as to provide a basis for appropriate land management. The cadastre still provides information on entities for taxation (vurderingsejendom). This information is selected from the valuation register of the municipalities.

The cadastral register consists of four elements:

• a register of real properties and land parcels;

• a cadastral map;

• measurement sheets related to boundaries;

• register of control points used for cadastral surveys.

Land Register

The land registry is a register of rights in real properties and falls under the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice. It contains legal data like titles, name of landowners, mortgages and easements (servitudes). Since 2000, the land register is fully digitised although the legal documents are still only analogously available. The state guarantees the contents of the land register. The land registry is decentralised to the (100) local courts. The land register uses the identifications of real property established by the cadastre.

Building and Dwelling Register

The municipalities (275 in total) are responsible for two real property registrations: the building and dwelling registration (BDR) and the valuation registration (SVUR). The Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs is responsible for these two registrations.

The BDR does not contain any spatial information. The Danish cadastre (which sets the guidelines for maintenance of the BDR) started a pilot in order to link buildings to address coordinates. A standard procedure has been developed by combining the BDR, the cadastral registration and buildings to generate address coordinates. This procedure results in 50% of the cases in correct locations of address coordinates of the buildings. For the other 50% the geo-coded address coordinates have to be edited and controlled manually. This is due to several problems such as more than one building may be positioned on one parcel, more addresses may exist for one building (e.g. flats) and points may fall outside buildings.

Valuation Register

Valuation on single properties to assist authorities in calculating and collecting property taxes. The tax authorities use the sales and valuation register for calculation and collection of taxes. The valuation registration contains information concerning identification of the property (cadastral number and property number), land area of each parcel and all results of taxation. The valuation contains two parts: valuation of land and valuation of buildings. When a property is transferred, the value used for buying the property is entered into the valuation registration.

REGISTRATIONS OF REAL PROPERTY WITH A 3D COMPONENT

The Danish Law is based on the same principles as laws on property in other countries: right of ownership is established on parcels and is not limited in the vertical dimension. A (juridical or factual) horizontal division in property can be established by restrictions in property. These restrictions can be defined both according to Private Law and Public Law.

Registrations according to Private Law

Rights according to Private Law, which can be used to establish a (juridical or factual) horizontal division of property, are mainly condominium rights or servitudes. Denmark has also a juridical construction called bygning pa lejet grund, which means buildings on leased ground that is more or less similar to the right of superficies.

Rights are not registered directly in the cadastre. However, 2D and 3D spatial information on the limited rights (what is the space for which a right applies) can be added in the title establishing the limited right that is registered in the land registry. Information in case of bygning pa lejet grund is also available in the building and dwelling registration.

Registrations According to Public Law

Public servitudes (restrictions according to Public Law) are registered in the land registry, in which a public authority is the owner of a servitude. The locations of these restrictions are (in most cases) not visible on the cadastral map nor are they available elsewhere in the cadastral system.

Restrictions according to Public Law can also be laid down in local plans (municipal or provincial level). These restrictions are not always available in the cadastral registration or in the land registry. Information on these restrictions is maintained and provided by local and county authorities.

Reference:

FIG Working Week 2004, Athens, Greece, May 22-27, 2004