Despite the difficult situation in the country, the issue of land ownership remains one of the most urgent. Land is not only a territory, but also a strategic resource, an investment and a source of income. However, owning it involves many legal nuances, especially during the period of changes in land legislation. Nowadays, it is not so easy to find a plot suitable for use, because each of them has its intended purpose, and any use of it outside the defined boundaries can lead to legal problems. Therefore, if you do not yet own land or plan to purchase it, it is important to know your rights and complete the documents in a timely manner.
Lawyers from the «Repeshko and Partners» Bar Association commented on the land legislation, and also talked about the current features of land law in 2025, including the nuances of property registration, changes in legislation and possible risks.
Not everyone knows that the end of 2024 brought important changes to the land legislation of Ukraine — on November 8, 2024, the Law of Ukraine of October 8, 2024 «On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding the Protection of the Interests of Owners of Land Shares (Shares), as well as the Application of Administrative Procedures in the Field of Land Relations» entered into force. This law foresees quite significant changes in land relations, namely:
- Chapter I of the Land Code of Ukraine was supplemented with a new Chapter 31 «Peculiarities of the administrative procedure in the field of land relations». From now on, it is forbidden for the bodies of executive power and local self-government, in accordance with the Law of Ukraine «On Administrative Procedure», to withdraw their own decisions on the transfer of land plots into ownership and use. At the same time, a rule has been established according to which only the court can invalidate illegal decisions of authorities on the transfer of land plots;
- the term of registration of the ownership of an unclaimed land share (share) has been extended until January 1, 2028;
- the distribution between the owners of land shares (shares) and their heirs of lands that remained in collective ownership after the distribution of land plots must be formalized and submitted for approval to the local self-government body by January 1, 2028;
- an administrative act in the field of land relations, which is the basis for the emergence of real rights to a land plot, does not lose its validity after the state registration of the corresponding real right and continues to be in effect during the entire period of existence of such a right.
We would like to remind you that previously there was a rule according to which, if by January 1, 2025, the owner of an unclaimed land share (share) or his heir has not registered the ownership right to the land plot, he will be considered to have refused to receive the land plot. Please note that this deadline has been extended until January 1, 2028, so citizens have an additional three years to resolve land issues.
In this regard, it should be noted that the following categories of citizens have the right to allocate a land plot in kind (share):
- owners of land plots (shares) from among former members of collective agricultural enterprises, agricultural cooperatives, agricultural joint-stock companies, including those created on the basis of state farms and other state agricultural enterprises,
- pensioners from among former members of collective agricultural enterprises, agricultural cooperatives, agricultural joint-stock companies, including those created on the basis of state farms and other state agricultural enterprises, who received certificates for the right to a land share (share) in accordance with the procedure established by law;
- citizens — heirs of the right to a land share (share), certified by a certificate;
- citizens whose right to a land share (share) has been recognized by a court decision.
In addition, land plots from the reserve or reserve fund can receive:
- citizens of Ukraine evacuated from the exclusion zone, resettled from the zone of unconditional (compulsory) or guaranteed voluntary resettlement
- citizens of Ukraine who independently resettled from the territories that were exposed to radioactive contamination, and who at the time of evacuation, resettlement or independent resettlement were members of collective or other agricultural enterprises,
- pensioners from their number who live in rural areas.
In the event that there are no collectively owned lands on the territory of the relevant community, which were subject to allotment, the allocation of land shares (shares) to citizens will be carried out as follows:
- from the lands of the reserve or reserve fund in the amount of the corresponding share;
- from communal property reserve lands;
- at the expense of making changes to the land management project to provide citizens with land plots.
In connection with the recent events on the territory of Ukraine, we consider it necessary to remind that, in accordance with the legislation, participants in hostilities (UBD) are provided with priority allocation of land plots for individual housing construction, gardening and gardening. The transfer of ownership of land plots is carried out in accordance with the procedure defined by Article 118 of the Land Code of Ukraine, provided that the participant in the hostilities did not use his right to obtain ownership of the land plot free of charge (he did not participate in the privatization of the land plot of this category earlier) and provided all the necessary documents. The first in line to receive a plot are citizens who became disabled due to the war, those who lost loved ones, and participants in the battle.
At the same time, the implementation of this right of the UBD currently has significant limitations. The fact is that amendments have been made to clauses 5 and 27 of Chapter X of the Land Code of Ukraine. According to these changes, during martial law, the free transfer of state and communal land to private ownership is prohibited. This is regulated by the Law of Ukraine «On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding the Restoration of the System of Registration of Agricultural Land Lease Rights and Improvement of Land Protection Legislation», which entered into force on November 19, 2022.
However, this restriction in no way applies to the transfer of ownership of land plots:
- on which real estate objects (buildings, structures) are located;
- which were transferred for use before the entry into force of the Land Code (until January 1, 2002).
As for the UBD directly, they have the right to receive land plots free of charge according to the specified norms:
- for gardening — up to 0.12 hectares;
- for personal farming — up to 2.0 hectares;
- for the construction and maintenance of a residential building — up to 0.25 hectares in villages, 0.15 hectares in towns and — 0.10 hectares in cities;
- for cottage construction — up to 0.10 hectares.
In order to exercise its right, the UBD must apply to the local authority, which is authorized to transfer the land. Exactly what amount of land and what type will be allocated must be determined directly on the spot, because everything depends on the type of plot and where it is located.
In response to a common question, whether it is possible to apply to the UBD in advance regarding the acquisition of land in order to proceed to the preparation of documents immediately after the cancellation of martial law, we note: if you submit an application for free acquisition of land now, as a result, the applicant will simply receive a refusal, which will state that, according to the current land legislation, consideration of such a request is impossible during the period of martial law, and they will advise you to submit the document again after its cancellation. However, a mandatory condition for obtaining a land plot is the abolition of martial law. Although this does not exclude the possibility of at least taking a closer look and thinking about which plot of land can become yours and in which territorial community.
The fact is that it is possible to get a plot of land in several ways. ISIs have both their pros and cons, so we advise you to use all possible ones! The first is to contact the local authorities directly and wait for what they can offer from the lands they have that are free and available for transfer to the ownership of citizens.
According to the second option, the citizen needs to know for himself exactly where the free plot is located, which does not belong to anyone, which fits the criteria of free privatization, and its approximate configuration. Previously, it was quite simple to implement, because there was free access to the Public Cadastral Map of Ukraine and a citizen could search for a free land plot using this resource. This option is completely official, because a copy from the Public Cadastral Map of Ukraine as an option for obtaining information was considered by the Cassation Administrative Court as part of the Supreme Court on January 9, 2020 in case No. 812/1264/17 and stated:
«Taking into account the above, the panel of judges agrees with the position of the courts of previous instances that the graphic materials (copies) attached by the person to his application, on which the desired location of the land plot is indicated, printed from the Public cadastral map of Ukraine, the information in which was created by the proper subject, is a proper document with the display of information that makes it possible to identify the desired land plot in the locality and contains the link of the land plots to the corresponding locality».
But again, due to hostilities after the introduction of martial law, access to this map is now closed. Some resources offer unofficial analogs of the cadastral map, but it should be understood that the data on them cannot be 100 percent current and correct, because they have not been updated since the beginning of martial law in Ukraine.
Why are we talking about land plots at all and how relevant is this issue for the average citizen? In 2021, the ban on the sale of agricultural land was lifted, which actually led to the development of the land market. It should be noted that despite military operations, land prices in the country are steadily increasing every year. However, the cost of land depends on many factors, in particular, on the location, soil fertility and the size of the land plot. The relevance of the land issue is not limited to land alienation. It is no secret to anyone that the land shares belonging to the peasants are leased to various collective and farm farms very well and at a good rent.
