Nearly 900 of the 1,200 buildings in the town of Grindavík have been bought by Þórkatla, a state-owned real estate company, Víkurfréttir reports. The town of three thousand inhabitants has been heavily impacted by volcanic eruptions and seismic activity over the last year.
Þórkatla was founded 27 February this year after Grindavík had repeatedly been evacuated and lava had destroyed three houses in the town. Grindavík residents have until the end of the year to apply to have their properties bought and there have already been talks about extending the deadline.
Criticism of the process
CEO Örn Viðar Skúlason said that he understands criticism of some aspects of the process, as the task of buying an entire town’s worth of properties is an unprecedented undertaking. “I believe we’ve been able to achieve this nicely and I’m very proud of our work at Þórkatla,” he said. “We were under immense pressure to begin with as applications piled up, but after getting a handle on things I’d say it’s gone well.”
Hopes remain that the town will become habitable again if the ongoing volcanic activity comes to an end. Grindavík residents can request an option to buy their houses back in the future. “We have no other plans but to sell the properties the same way we bought them, at 95 percent of fire insurance value,” Örn said.
Storage and waste issues
Some residents have criticised the stipulation that they must empty out their properties fully before handing them over, which has lead to storage problems and issues with waste management. “I’ve heard this criticism and there’s no doubt that we could’ve done things differently in the process, I can admit that,” Örn said. “There were rumours going around this spring that people weren’t planning on handing over the properties in the proper state, which lead to us reiterating that they should be handed over in the same manner as in other real estate deals. Our experience has generally been good and people are handing their properties over in good condition. After we heard this criticism, we’ve adapted and been more positive to requests about delaying handovers or giving people more time to store their belongings for a while, for example in garages.”
He added that he’s proud of helping the Grindavík families getting out of a difficult situation and starting up in new locations. “With time Grindavík will blossom again, I’m convinced of that,” Örn said.
