Jóhannes Haukur Hauksson, one of the owners of a 72 percent share of the remote farm Grímsstaðir á Fjöllum, Northeast Iceland, says the land is still on the market after it was put up for sale in the European Economic Area (EEA) in July, ruv.is reports.
Chinese investor Huang Nubo had wanted to purchase or rent the land and build a resort and golf course. However, delays from the government and local municipality in dealing with him have meant that the land remains unsold.
Icelandic authorities have refused to authorize an exemption from the law on land ownership, which states that only EEA citizens can own land in Iceland.
In October, it was reported that GáF, a company founded by municipalities in North Iceland to buy the land and lease it to Huang, was ISK 10 million (USD 79,000, EUR 65,000) in debt. The company had been hoping to make an agreement with Huang on a long-term lease of the land.
According to Jóhannes, when the deal didn’t go through, they started advertising the land on the EEA market. He says that the Icelandic real estate agent in charge of selling Grímsstaðir has been in touch with agents in Germany, The Netherlands and the Nordic countries.
“There is a lot of interest but we don’t have anything in our hands. We’ve had several inquiries from Germany, but nothing concrete,” he said.
