Privatization of land under an apartment building, how to privatize a plot of land under an apartment building

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You can privatize not only a separate residential building, apartment or land plot, but also the immediate surrounding area of low-rise apartment buildings. This procedure has quite a lot of advantages, but also no fewer disadvantages. How this can be done and what the consequences will be - read in this article.

Is it possible to privatize land under an apartment building?

In accordance with Article 36 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, a plot of land under an apartment building belongs on the right of shared ownership to all residents, in accordance with the size of their premises. Thus, each owner of an apartment in such a building is automatically the owner of a part of the land plot. This does not require any additional actions, but only if there is a cadastral passport for this territory. If it is not there, then immediately after registration the residents become the owners of the plot without any additional documents.

Example : Let's assume that there are 10 apartments of the same area in a building. In the case of privatization of the land plot under the house, each apartment owner receives 1/10 share of the territory. If someone becomes the owner of 2 apartments in this house at once, he will have the right to 2/10 of the share and so on.

Who can privatize

Legislative acts define the circle of persons who can apply to municipal authorities with an application for privatization:

residential building development company;
general meeting of residents;
a separate owner of residential or non-residential premises (both individuals and legal entities), regardless of the opinions of other apartment owners;
a certain group of apartment owners who disagree with the decision of the general building meeting.

If the developer applies, then the future owners of the apartments, upon purchase, will already have ownership rights to part of the local area

The size of the land share of each owner of residential or non-residential premises is determined in proportion to the area of his apartment (premises) to the total area of the house.

Only the owner of the premises in the house can apply for privatization of the local area. That is, if the apartment is municipal, then there is no right to privatize the adjacent territory. You can find out how to privatize an apartment in this article.

Is it necessary and why to privatize a plot of land for an apartment building?

Privatization of a plot of land for a residential building with a large number of apartments is a rather controversial procedure from the point of view of usefulness. In theory, it is always better to own land than not to own it, but not all potential territory owners understand all the disadvantages of this procedure. For clarity, we present the pros and cons in the form of a table.

Advantages and disadvantages

Pros of land privatization	Disadvantages of land privatization
Without the permission of the owners, any objects cannot be erected on a plot near an apartment building or part of the land can be alienated.	The owners are required to independently and at their own expense maintain the territory, clear snow, repair the surface, remove leaves, remove garbage, and so on.
Land owners can use the land to erect any buildings, as long as this does not contradict the law. In this case, you can rent out the territory to commercial organizations and earn income.	Almost the entire territory under an apartment building is, in the vast majority of cases, occupied by engineering structures that ensure the functioning of the house, automobile and pedestrian roads. In fact, only a small part of the land is suitable for use, but even here there are serious restrictions on use. For example, no one will allow you to build a beer stall near your house.
You can landscape the area at your own discretion.

Taking into account all the above, privatization of a site under an apartment building actually brings more troubles than advantages. While the territory is under the jurisdiction of the municipality, the local administration is obliged to monitor it. It is quite logical that it is extremely beneficial for her to shift this responsibility directly to the residents of the house themselves, therefore there are practically no refusals in such privatization. And those that do exist are usually considered illegal.

Pros and cons of the procedure

Privatization of land for MKD has a number of advantages for residents, namely:

Privatization is considered free in the sense that the land will not have to be purchased (although you will have to spend money during the registration process).
By privatizing the local area, residents acquire the right to dispose of it, including obtaining material benefits. For example, land can be rented out.
The cost of an apartment with privatized land upon sale will be higher than in the case of the sale of an apartment without owning a share of the land.
Only its owners have the right to dispose of a privatized plot. City authorities will not be able to use this land for their own purposes without the owner's permission.
Residents can freely improve the area, for example, lay out a lawn, flower beds, organize parking, install children's or sports facilities.
Privatization guarantees an increase in compensation if the house is demolished, since the land will first have to be forcibly confiscated from the residents.

This procedure has many advantages, but we also note some disadvantages, such as:

annual tax payment;
independent maintenance of the territory (cleaning, landscaping);
carrying out repairs of objects standing on this land at the expense of residents.

Privatized land can be used only for its intended purpose, which narrows the possibilities for its commercial use, and sometimes for independent development.

As a rule, the possibilities of using the local area are limited to the construction of children's playgrounds or recreation areas.

In general, the privatization of land under apartment buildings is a useful and beneficial procedure for residents, but at the same time it is responsible. Whether or not it is worth registering the land under the high-rise building as property is up to the residents themselves to decide.

Who can apply for privatization

Land privatization can be carried out only after obtaining the consent of all residents of the house at a general house meeting. Usually, within its framework, a chairman or representative is selected who will be responsible for this issue. Sometimes for a fee, but more often on a bare initiative. Separate privatization of part of the land under the house by one apartment owner to the exclusion of all others is not allowed.

Example : Ivan Ivanovich lives on the first floor and really wants to own the territory under his windows. He plans to improve it, build a gazebo and relax in it in the heat. If he tries to carry out privatization on his own, he will be refused. However, Ivan Ivanovich may initiate a meeting of residents, at which he will propose to privatize the entire territory under the apartment building. He can also nominate himself as a representative who will be responsible for the procedure. In return, he will ask for the right to arrange the area under his window the way he wants.

✅ Taxes

Owned land is subject to taxation. Property owners pay taxes annually . The basis for calculating the tax rate is the cadastral value of the territory. For accuracy, the latest assessment from the BTI and tax authorities is taken.

You can pay the tax at the cash desk of any Russian bank. It is no less convenient to use payment through State Services or through the Taxpayer’s Personal Account on the Federal Tax Service website. You should not ignore payments, as debts lead to the accrual of penalties.

Socially protected categories of citizens (beneficiaries) can count on a reduction in the tax on land under an apartment building. Usually this is a 50% discount for WWII veterans and disabled people of groups I-II.

How to privatize land under an apartment building

Where to start privatization? The privatization procedure itself is not required as such. It is enough to simply issue a cadastral passport for the plot, after which the land will automatically become the property of the residents of the apartments in the building.

Order and stages

Hold a meeting of all residents of the house.
Agree on the fact of registration of the site as property.
Select a representative who will deal with this issue.
Draw up an application for the formation of a site.
Send an application to the local administration.
Request a cadastral engineer to prepare land surveying.
Prepare documentation for registering the territory with cadastral registration.
Contact Rosreestr for a cadastral passport.

Procedure and process

After the meeting of residents, provided that it was carried out according to the rules (see the list of documents for this below), you need to contact the local administration.

Example : In Moscow, this is done by the DGI (Department of City Property).

As part of its duties, the administration first checks whether land surveying has been carried out. If yes, an order is issued to approve the boundaries of the territory on the cadastral map. If not, a land surveying procedure is prescribed. This is done by a cadastral engineer. The survey plan is placed in a special electronic storage. This is more convenient than receiving this document in person, as it allows you to simply indicate the number of the electronic document when you subsequently issue a cadastral passport.

Next, you need to send the documents to Rosreestr. This can be done both in the structural divisions of this organization and through multifunctional centers (MFC). You can also send papers by mail or create an appeal through the Rosreestr website. After paying the state fee, checking the documentation and issuing a cadastral passport, the territory is considered the property of all residents of the house. No additional certificates of ownership will be issued.

Documentation

Documents required for holding a meeting of residents:

Minutes of the residents' meeting.
Decisions of apartment owners on the formation of a site in writing.
Powers of attorney for representatives of apartments, if the owners cannot or do not want to participate in the meeting in person.
A sheet on which everyone who attended the residents' meeting is registered.
Copies of notifications that a general meeting of all apartment owners will be held.
The scheme according to which the owners' shares will be distributed.

Documents for registration of a cadastral passport:

Passport of the representative who deals with the issue of land registration. You also need a power of attorney certified by a notary. This is a paid service.
Application from a representative for state registration and cadastral registration of the territory under an apartment building.
Documents confirming the fact of formation of the site. Issued by the local administration.
Decision of the residents' meeting.
If the Unified State Register does not contain information about the ownership of the residents of the house, then all their title documents are required.

In some cases, additional documents may be required. It is recommended to clarify this point directly with the authorities to which the representative will contact. This depends on your immediate region of residence and possible local laws. It should be taken into account that these requirements may not contradict current legislation.

How to mark the boundaries of the local area

According to the standard established by the Government of the Russian Federation (Article 36 of the Town Planning Code of the Russian Federation), the minimum and maximum dimensions of a house plot must be equal to the area of the residential property itself. The data is recorded in the technical passport or in an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate, if the object is registered. You can form a territory with real estate located on it by contacting local authorities or a land management organization. The area by law includes green spaces, flower beds, playgrounds, clothes dryers, a heating point, a transformer substation, and other structures necessary to service an apartment building.

Deadlines

The meeting of residents is not limited by any deadlines, however, it should be taken into account that people may have their own plans and therefore it is necessary to warn about the meeting long before it starts. It is recommended to focus on a period of 1 month or more. Direct land surveying and the work of a cadastral engineer take two weeks or more. And it takes about two more weeks to obtain a cadastral passport. On average, the entire procedure will take about 3-4 months.

✅ Cost

There will be no need to purchase land from the municipality. But you will have to bear the costs of producing a cadastral passport. The cost ranges from 20,000 to 100,000 rubles , depending on the region of residence. Of course, tariffs in Moscow and St. Petersburg are the highest. Read, how much does it cost to privatize an apartment?

A technical passport for a house will cost 10,000 rubles and more .

You will also need to pay a state fee for privatization of a land plot. At the moment it is 2,000 rubles from each privatization participant.

Refusal. Causes.

There are several reasons for refusing to register land ownership:

Failure to pay the state fee within 5 days from the date of submission of documents.
Lack of any necessary documents.
There are errors in the documents provided.

If everything is in order with the documents and the state duty is paid on time, then they cannot refuse to privatize the plot, since this will directly contradict the current legislation. In the worst case, if there is a refusal without a clear indication of the reason, you can go to court. In practice, refusals occur only in very rare cases and only for a good reason, since it is profitable to transfer the land “to the balance sheet” of the owners of the administration.

Privatization of land under an apartment building, be it a low-rise building with 2-3 apartments or a large building with a hundred apartments, is not the easiest task due to the need to gather residents and prepare an impressive package of documents. Our experienced lawyers will clarify the most controversial issues during a free consultation, and during the registration procedure they can also act as representatives. This will significantly reduce deadlines and minimize the time wasted on the client/clients.

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Author of the article

Natalya Fomicheva

Website expert lawyer. 10 years of experience. Inheritance matters. Family disputes. Housing and land law.

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