Land management

The tasks of the local government in the field of land administration are to organise the formation of cadastral parcels, to establish limited rights in rem on the land of the municipality (including the establishment of personal rights of use), to complete property reform (including the municipalisation of land or its retention in state ownership, the establishment of building rights and the restitution of land) and to carry out various land-related operations. 

Privatisation of land

A person who has the Land Reform Act the right to privatise the land on the basis of a right of pre-emption had to submit an application by 1 January 1998. If the application was not submitted by the deadline, the land needed to serve the building would remain the property of the State and a building right would be established in favour of the owner of the building. This means that, whereas in the past it would have been possible to privatise larger parcels of land, the subsequent granting of a building right only allows the privatisation of the land necessary to serve the building.  

If the building was acquired after 1 January 1998 as movable property, the person acquiring the building has the right to privatise the land with a right of pre-emption. The person acquiring the building must submit an application for the privatisation of the land with a right of pre-emption within three months of the date of acquisition of the building. If the application is not submitted within the prescribed period, the land necessary to serve the building remains the property of the State and a building right is established in favour of the owner of the building.

If the building was acquired after 1 January 1998 as movable property but the former owner has submitted a declaration of the right to purchase the land by 1 January 1998 at the latest, the declaration submitted by the former owner remains valid for the new owner of the building. The new owner of the building should submit the application within three months of the date of acquisition of the building only if he does not wish to privatise the land. In such a case, the land necessary to serve the building will remain in public ownership and a building right will be established in favour of the owner of the building.

Submit an e-application for the privatisation of land with a right to purchase online

Submit an e-application for the establishment of a building right

Please attach a site plan, a copy of the owner's identity document and copies of various documents proving ownership to the application for the establishment of the building right.

Measuring land, land parcel formation

In order to form a cadastral parcel, the owner of the immovable property or the person provided for by law applies for cadastral survey conditions from the Land Registry. On the basis of the conditions issued, the owner of the immovable shall order a cadastral survey from the land surveyor. After the survey, the data and documents obtained are submitted electronically to the local land administration official. The land surveyor is responsible for the accuracy of the survey data and the legality of the cadastral survey carried out by him and submits an application for cadastral survey to the municipality on behalf of the owner. The municipality shall coordinate the boundary protocols and adopt the corresponding legislation for the new entries.

Establishment of limited rights in rem

The establishment of limited rights in rem is mainly understood as the establishment of a personal right of use on the land of the municipality. In order to establish a personal right of use, a free-form application must be submitted to the municipality, clearly stating:

1. Details of the applicant;
2. Land parcels to be loaded;
3. Deadline for loading;
4. Content and purpose of the right of use;
5. Costs in setting.

In addition, the application should be accompanied by a site plan of the area or an extract from the project.

Address data cleansing

The address data will be organised on the basis of the Spatial Data Act and from the address data system. According to the law and the regulation, each village must have cadastral parcels with different names, and all names in use must be Estonian. The following must not appear in the address:

1. words which are not sufficiently distinctive and can be used interchangeably (e.g. the words "number", "plot", "parcel", "land parcel", "cadastral parcel", "farm", "house", "home");
2. abbreviations;
3. inappropriate symbols (e.g. no colon, quotation marks, reference marks);
4. side words, pronouns and number words;
5. no letters are used as letter additions i, l, o, š, ž, w, õ, ä, ö, ü. It is advisable to avoid letters t, p, h and q.

The proposal to correct the address details is made by the local authority to the property owner. If the owner of the property wishes to change the name of the property, a free-form application should be submitted to the local owner, including the reason for the change, the source data of the property and the proposal for the new name.

Land tax introduction