Does having a house complicate the legalization of land and should it be demolished after registration of the plot? Opinion of the State Property Committee expert

Many fear that an attempt to legalize land under an existing house could have the opposite effect of requiring demolition. Consultant of the Land Regulation Department of the State Property Committee Evgeny Baturevich in the “Face to Face” program on ONT.by dispelled myths and told about real risks.

Home on the precinct: help or hindrance?

The presence of capital structure on arbitrarily occupied land is a frequent case. The expert explained that the structure itself is neither an obstacle nor a factor that accelerates the process.

The very existence of these unauthorized buildings is, as it were, the fact that we have an unauthorized occupation of some land. This is an important sign by which we generally, in principle, identify that there is a land plot that needs to be formalized, said Evgeny Baturevich.

He added: "Will it speed up or make the process more complicated in some way?" It's hard to tell. It doesn't really affect anything. That is a fact.”.

But there are exceptions. If a building is built with gross violations of urban planning, sanitary or fire protection standards, an amnesty on the ground will not save the building.

If it can not be issued, do not allow some norms and requirements, then it is necessary to determine the future of this house, construction. Everything should not remain in limbo. Some point in this matter will still have to be put, the speaker warned.

The expert also gave an example with the protection zones of power lines: “The law prohibits the construction of any capital buildings in the security zone of these power lines. Therefore, if the construction in the protection zone of the power line, for example, is located, then this may already be grounds for refusal.”.

Protection against future seizures

There is an opinion that the simplified order can provoke a wave of new self-seizures for the sake of future legalization. In the State Property Committee, such a possibility is excluded due to the strict time qualification and modern control systems.

“Will simplified legalization provide an incentive for more self-appropriation? Let’s not forget that, firstly, this is an offence, and secondly, the amnesty was made possible by the fact that our geoinformation systems have received a rather serious update. You can't hide a stitch in a bag. And as if everything is under constant control, Evgeny Baturevich is sure.

The right to amnesty has only persons who occupied precincts before September 1, 2022. For those who decide to seize land now, the law provides for standard sanctions.

In addition, the expert noted that legalization requires costs: “A person must pay a fee in the amount of the cadastral value of the part of the land he occupied.”.

Equity ownership and complex cases

The question often arises: what if the land is used by several families or it is in shared ownership?

“There is a complexity here, since it is shared ownership and the consent of all equity holders is required. If there is consent, everyone agrees to legalize it, then there are no questions, the expert explained.

This requires the participation of all owners in the process of re-issuing documents.

“Since this is a shared property, there without any specific parts to whom which should belong, it means that all owners must apply directly to the Executive Committee in order to issue everything in accordance with the law.”.

History from practice

During the work of the program, typical mistakes of citizens were revealed. The expert stressed the importance of checking the history of the site before submitting an application.

“Most often people try to legalize land that was originally given to someone else, but the documents are lost. Here, the amnesty does not work, it is necessary to restore rights through the court or archives, Evgeny Baturevich cited an example from practice.

The main source of confirmation of the fact of occupation until September 1, 2022 is land cadastral documentation and aerial survey data on the geoportal. The expert recommends that before submitting an application, it is necessary to order an extract or check the data in order to exclude “foreign” sites from the list of candidates for amnesty.

Watch the full issue of “Face to Face” with Evgeny Baturevich:

If you don’t have time to watch, read the most important thing:

1. 1.Land Amnesty in Belarus: who can legalize the land, and who will take the land