Every year the demand for land plots is growing rapidly, especially in Kyiv and other large cities. Almost every citizen strives to own a land plot, but not everyone knows that they have the right to receive a land plot of a size determined by law in any place on the territory of Ukraine free of charge.
The land located within the territory of Ukraine is the object of the right of ownership of the Ukrainian people and the right of ownership to it is guaranteed. Therefore, according to the Constitution, every citizen has the right to own a "piece" of the land of his country. And even the people of Kiev are no exception.
However, in practice the situation looks somewhat different.
According to the Basic Law of Ukraine, land is the main national wealth. On behalf of the Ukrainian people, the rights of the owner are exercised by state authorities and local self-government bodies.
So, the “servants of the people” manage the lands on their behalf and are obliged to exercise the right of citizens to gratuitous privatization in accordance with the law.
In accordance with the Land Code of Ukraine, the acquisition of the right to land by citizens and legal entities is carried out by transferring land plots into ownership or providing them for use.
Free transfer of land plots into ownership is carried out, among other things, in the case of receiving land plots from state and municipal lands within the limits of free privatization norms. And the norms of free privatization for ZK are as follows: for farming - in the amount of a land share (share); for personal farming - no more than 2 hectares, for gardening - up to 0.12 hectares, for the construction and maintenance of a residential building, outbuildings and structures (household plot) in villages - no more than 0.25 hectares, in settlements - no more than 0.15 ha, in cities - no more than 0.10 ha, for individual summer cottage construction - no more than 0.1 ha.
Having the right to gratuitous privatization and armed with the Constitution and the Land Code, we will try to apply to the relevant authorities “on the ground”.
Free Transfer
There are several ways to get free ownership of a land plot, which we will consider in this article. The simplest of them is to apply to the relevant authorities with an application for the provision of a land plot. According to the Land Code, a citizen, citizens interested in obtaining free ownership of a land plot from state or communal property for farming, personal farming, gardening, construction and maintenance of a residential building, utility buildings and structures (garden plot), individual summer cottage construction , construction of individual garages within the limits of free privatization norms, submit an application to the relevant district, Kyiv or Sevastopol city state administration or village, settlement, city council at the location of the land plot. The application indicates the desired dimensions and the purpose of its use.
So, to write an application, we first of all need to know where the land plot of state or communal forms of ownership from the lands of the reserve is located, which does not belong to anyone except the state and theoretically can be transferred to any citizen of Ukraine. The application must indicate its location. There is no need to explain why we want to privatize this particular site.
Practice shows that there are such sites even in Kyiv. Moreover, there are specialized firms in Kyiv that have connections in the land resources authorities and are engaged in the identification of such plots and their "free" privatization. The cost of such privatization is slightly below the market value of the land.
But still, let's imagine that you decide to use the right of free privatization and have information about "no man's" plots. You could get information, say, from acquaintances, that in their cooperative (private sector) the owner of the land died and the plot was transferred to the state, or simply there is a “klapot” of land that has not been privatized.
For confirmation of such information, you must contact the cadastral department of the land resources authority to obtain a cadastral plan. For individuals, it will cost UAH 35 state duty. If a land plot is selected to whom it belongs, the name of the owner will be in the cadastral plan. Otherwise, it is indicated that the site is “city lands”, etc. If you guessed right with the land plot, then you can safely submit an application by attaching a cadastral plan and other necessary documents to it.
Within a month, the administration considers the application and decides to grant permission for the development of the site allocation project or refuses the applicant.
As practice shows, the administration refuses naive "hunters for land" for various reasons. From the responses of the Kyiv City State Administration to Nairozpovsyugenishima, the grounds for refusal are the provision of not all the necessary documents (which documents were missing is not indicated), and the fact that the General Plan of the city does not provide for the allocation of new sites.
In case of refusal of the executive authority or local self-government body to transfer the land plot into ownership or leave the application without consideration, the issue is resolved in court.
So, if all the necessary documents have been submitted, there are pretty good chances to challenge the refusal in court and oblige the relevant administration to provide a solution.
However, there is no guarantee that during this time the selected site will not become my property.
Privatization of land on the basis of good faith tenure
According to the Land Code, citizens who have been using a land plot in good faith, openly and continuously for 15 years, but do not have documents that would indicate that they have rights to this land plot, can apply to a state authority or local government with a request for transfer its ownership or provision for use. The size of this land plot is established within the limits of the norms determined by the Land Code.
In this case, the application procedure is similar, except that it is necessary to bring the use of the land plot over 15 years.
If an ownerless land plot is located next to yours, it will not be difficult to prove that you continuously and conscientiously planted potatoes on it from year to year, took out the garbage and watched the garden and find witnesses who would confirm your words.
It will be more difficult to confirm your "relationship" with the land if you see it for the first time, but with ingenuity and imagination, this is possible.
If the administration does not believe you, the use of the land plot for 15 years will have to be proved in court. In this case, the result will depend on the reliability and credibility of the evidence of use presented.
Legalization of illegally occupied sites
Everyone knows that in order to carry out construction, it is necessary to obtain a number of approvals from the competent authorities. It should be noted that it is strictly forbidden to carry out unauthorized construction without obtaining the relevant documents and approvals.
According to the Civil Code of Ukraine, a residential house, building, structure, other real estate are considered unauthorized construction if they are built or are being built on a land plot that has not been allocated for this purpose, either without a proper permit or a duly approved project, or with significant violations of construction norms and rules. A person who has carried out or is carrying out unauthorized construction of immovable property shall not acquire ownership rights to it.
But at the same time, the Code establishes that the right of ownership to unauthorized built immovable property can be recognized by a court decision for a person who carried out unauthorized construction on a land plot that was not allocated to her for this purpose, provided that the land plot is provided in the prescribed manner person under the already constructed real estate.
So, the condition for recognizing property in this way is a court decision. In order for the court to be able to make a decision in your favor, during unauthorized construction on a "no one's" site, construction should be carried out without violating the established building codes and many nuances should be taken into account. For example, the legal regime of this category of land should provide for the transfer of a site for the construction of a constructed facility.
Otherwise, the court may decide to demolish the illegally constructed facility. In the same way, the court decides the dispute if unauthorized construction has led to a violation of the rights of other persons.
Based on the foregoing, the legalization of unauthorized construction is a real way to obtain a land plot under it, but only through the court and subject to building and other standards. Obviously, this method is quite risky. However, considering that the legalization of the object through the court is possible even at the initial stage of its construction, the risk can be minimized.
In conclusion, let us summarize that free privatization of land in Kyiv is possible, but not free. To exercise your right, you must have considerable ingenuity, knowledge in the field of land legislation and true love for your native land.
