The Seimas a draft law was registered, which aims to provide an exception to the provisions related to the calculated remuneration for the opportunity to build and reconstruct the accessories of existing apartment buildings (aut.: Belonging - a thing that belongs to someone, component: Homestead buildings and their belongings. The road, stations and their accessories must be in order. Real estate with accessories) on a leased plot of state land.
The draft law proposes establishing that the land tax should not be applied when simple engineering structures for recreational or sports purposes are built and reconstructed, and simple flat horizontal engineering structures of group I or II are installed, intended for the needs of residents of apartment buildings.
According to the provisions of the currently valid Land Law, the remuneration for the right to build on state land is disproportionately high and unreasonably increases the cost of yard maintenance. For example, in Vilnius in 2022 on September 20, according to the neighborhood (yards near apartment buildings) renovation program, the National Land Service received a certificate of calculation of the payment for construction on state land, which indicated the calculated amount - 166 euros for Savanorių Ave. 512 yard area management works. At that time, yard management works cost 11 euros. The payment is calculated for 39 sq. m. equipped with honeycomb coverings, 210 sq. m. asphalt surfaces and 148 sq. m. sidewalk installation.
"While communicating with the representatives of the municipalities, we heard concerns that the existing tax hinders the possibilities of managing the environment of multi-apartment buildings. We are interested in making the courtyards of apartment buildings beautiful and comfortable for residents. It makes no sense to tax state land to such an extent that it is no longer possible to renovate the existing infrastructure, or to install a new one that meets the needs of the population," says Aistė Gedvilienė, member of the Seimas and chairperson of the Environmental Protection Committee.
in 2021 November 25 Seimas adopted an amendment to the Land Law, which aimed to prevent unfair use of the opportunity to develop other economic activities on leased plots of state land. Many tenants on plots of state land, without changing the purpose of land use, built new or reconstructed existing structures (for example, a new shopping center was built on the site of an old administrative building), without compensating the state for the implementation of such a right.
After the adopted amendment to the Land Law entered into force, it became clear that the payment procedure for the right to build new and/or reconstruct existing structures on leased plots of state land is also applicable to residents of apartment buildings.
"After the amendments to the Land Law were adopted a year ago, an unfortunate mistake was made, which caused a lot of inconvenience to the residents of apartment buildings who want to tidy up their yards with the help of self-government. In Marijampolė municipality, a few years ago we significantly increased the financing of the yard renovation program, so the pace of renovation was significantly accelerated. Now we see that the added tax reaches 20 euros, which is neither rational nor fair. Unfortunately, this unfortunate mistake in the law in our municipality has slowed down the renovation process of the courtyards of apartment buildings. After the amendment is adopted, the mistake will be corrected," says Andrius Vyšniauskas, a member of the Seimas from Marijampoli.
As the member of the Seimas A. Gedvilienė states, for many residents such payment for the right to build on state land creates an excessive financial burden, which discourages managing the living environment and taking advantage of the renewal programs of city blocks offered by some municipalities.
"It is important to mention that residents of multi-apartment buildings cannot be identified with entities that carry out commercial activities, therefore we want to balance the interests of these groups, taking into account their capabilities and the goals of using state land", emphasizes A. Gedvilienė.
The explanatory note to the draft law states that residents, in contrast to entities engaged in economic and commercial activities, do not receive financial benefits from leased plots of state land, they use these leased plots of state land to meet the common needs of the residents of apartment buildings, therefore it is appropriate to establish an exception for the remuneration for the right to build on state land on the land, when uncomplicated recreational or sports engineering structures are built or reconstructed to meet the needs of apartment house owners and/or group I or II uncomplicated flat horizontal engineering structures are installed.
Amendments to the law were prepared by Seimas members A. Gedvilienė, A. Vyšniauskas, Audrius Petrošius, Simonas Gentvilas and Ieva Kačinskaitė-Urbonienė.
