Summer residents warned about the risks of confiscation of land plots through the courts

In anticipation of the new dacha season in Russia, the rules for developing land plots in populated areas, gardening and vegetable gardening non-profit partnerships (SNT and ONT) will change. From March 1, the authorities will allocate three years for the development of acquired or existing land plots. Owners who fail to lay the foundation for a private home on their territory, level the land and mow the weeds within the allotted time will face hefty fines. Ownerless plots will be confiscated from malicious violators through the courts.

According to the new law No. 307-FZ, adopted in August 2024, owners of land in populated areas, owners of gardens and vegetable gardens will be required to prepare the plot for its intended use within three years from the date of purchase from March 1, 2025. According to the document, a land plot, including one intended for individual housing construction (IHC), may be recognized as unused if a foundation has not been laid on it for two years or more or the building has not been registered within five years after the completion of construction.

Signs of unused land with existing buildings are now also considered to be damage to structural elements. For example, the windows in the house are not glazed, the roof is destroyed, the walls are damaged. In addition, the site may be considered unused if it is littered with garbage, overgrown with weeds more than 1 m high and on more than 50% of the territory. Another important sign of unused land is that agricultural crops have not been grown on the abandoned site for three years or more.

That is, from March 1, all owners of land purchased for the construction of a house must, within three years, level, drain, clear the area of ​​weeds and, at a minimum, build the foundation of the future house.

For summer residents and gardeners who do not want to conscientiously look after their land, administrative impressive fines are provided. As Mikhail Lavrukhin, head of the commercial and residential real estate practice at the Intercession law firm, explained to MK, if the cadastral value of a land plot is determined, then citizens who violate the law are fined from 1% to 1.5% of the cadastral value of the plot, but not less than 20 thousand rubles. Officials will have to pay a fine of 1.5% to 2% of the cadastral value of the land plot, but not less than 50 thousand rubles. For legal entities, the fine is even higher - from 3% to 5% of the cadastral value of the land plot, but not less than 400 thousand rubles. If the cadastral value of a land plot is not determined, citizens are subject to an administrative fine of 20,000 to 50,000 rubles, officials - 50,000 to 100,000 rubles, and legal entities - 400,000 to 700,000 rubles.

It should be noted that earlier the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation prohibited fining Russians for failure to use land. Now, after the new law came into force, the situation has changed radically. The procedure for imposing sanctions will look like this: for the first violation, the unscrupulous owner is given a warning, no fines are imposed. If he does not correct the violation within six months, a fine is issued.

In case of systematic failure to use a land plot in accordance with its intended purpose, the plot may be seized by a court decision (Article 45 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation and Article 284 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). "A claim for the seizure of a plot may be filed by the local administration or other authorized bodies acting within the powers granted by land legislation," the lawyer explained.

Rosreestr and its territorial bodies will be responsible for checking compliance with the requirements of the new law and determining signs of non-use of land plots. These bodies carry out federal state land control (supervision) and will use the criteria established by law to determine whether a land plot is used in accordance with its intended purpose.

"Today, the goal is not to punish owners or confiscate their land plots," emphasized State Secretary and Deputy Head of Rosreestr Alexey Butovetsky. According to him, the main goal of the innovations is to force citizens to take care of the land and use it for its intended purpose. The authorities also expect that after the adoption of the law, the efficiency of use and involvement of lands of populated areas, garden and vegetable plots in economic circulation will increase.

It is obvious that the innovations will also increase the taxable base. The flow of fees from owners of gardens and vegetable plots to the treasury will increase. But the authorities prefer not to talk about this loudly.

Published in the newspaper "Moskovsky Komsomolets" No. 29469 of February 25, 2025

Newspaper headline: Summer residents warned of confiscation risks