The Commission has provided Member States with guidance on the
sale of land and buildings by public authorities.
This guidance concerns only sales of publicly owned land and buildings.
It does not concern the acquisition or the letting or leasing by public
authorities of land and buildings.
Sale through an unconditional bidding procedure
A sale of land and buildings must be sufficiently well publicised so
that the selling price is determined by the market value. An offer is
sufficiently well publicised if it has been repeatedly advertised over a
reasonably long period e.g. 2 months or more in the national or
international press when the intended sale of land and buildings may
attract investors operating on a Europe-wide or international scale.
An offer is unconditional when any buyer, irrespective of whether
or not he runs a business or of the nature of his business, is generally
free to acquire the land and buildings and to use it for his own purposes.
Restrictions may be imposed for environmental protection or to avoid
purely speculative bids. Urban and regional planning restrictions
imposed on the owner pursuant to domestic law on the use of the
land and buildings do not affect the unconditional nature of an offer.
If the sale is unconditional and there has been sufficient publicity the
sale does not involve any State aid.
Sale without an unconditional bidding procedure
If public authorities decide not to use the above procedure then
an independent evaluation should be carried out by one or more
independent asset valuers prior to the sale negotiations. This evaluation
must be performed in order to establish the market value on the basis
of generally accepted market indicators and valuation standards. The
market price then established is the minimum purchase price that can
be agreed without granting State aid.
If after a reasonable effort to sell the land and buildings at the market
value, it is clear that the value set by the valuer cannot be obtained, a
deviation of up to 5% from that value can be deemed to be in line with
market conditions. If the land and buildings cannot be sold even at this
stage, a new valuation must be carried out.
Notification
Member States must notify any sale to the Commission that :
· was not concluded on the basis of an open and unconditional
bidding procedure, accepting the best or only bid; and
· was in the absence of such procedure, conducted at less than
market value as established by independent valuers.
Official Journal C 209
Full details of the Commission’s Communication on State aid
elements in sales of land and buildings by public authorities are
available here - Official Journal C209.