The Land Board sells immovables belonging to the state at public written auctions in which all persons may take part. State land may be purchased both by Estonian as well as foreign citizens and companies. Notices of auction shall be published at the addresses www.ametlikudteadaanded.ee and www.maaamet.ee not later than two weeks before the auction. Notices of auction shall also be published in major newspapers.
A written offer must be made and a guarantee paid To take part in a written auction, a guarantee cover must be paid not later than by the term of submission of the application, the amount and methods of payment are indicated in the notices (no offers lower than the starting price are accepted). For the winner of the auction the guarantee cover shall be included in the purchase amount while for other participants the guarantee cover shall be returned. If the contract of sale is not entered into due to reasons arising from the winner, the guarantee cover shall not be returned. A written offer must include an application (the recommended form of the application is available on the website of the Land Board), a copy of the payment order certifying the payment of the guarantee cover and, in case of the representation of a natural person, a document certifying the representative’s authorities. All offers must be submitted to the Land Board in writing in a closed envelope by hand delivery against signature or sent by express delivery by the time and to the address specified in the notice of auction. All persons submitting offers or, in case of any authorisations, their representatives may be present at the opening of written offers, but there is no obligation for an offerer to be present at the opening of offers. The minutes of auctions are delivered to all participants in the auction within one working day to the address specified in the application.
Right of land acquisition As a rule, the winner of the auction, i.e. the person who made the highest offer, shall have right to acquire the land. Upon sales of state-owned immovables including a parcel of forest land, pursuant to the State Assets Act, the owner of the bordering immovable, whose immovable also includes a forest land parcel and who participated in the auction but did not win, shall have the right of pre-emption for the acquisition of the land at the auction price. In order to exercise this right the entitled person must submit to the Land Board a written confirmation thereof within 5 working days from the announcement of auction results. In case there are two or more adjacent neighbours willing to exercise this right, the owner of property with the longest common forest border shall be preferred. When the right of purchase of the state-owned land containing forest land is transferred to the adjacent neighbour under the above conditions, the auction results shall be endorsed in favour of the adjacent neighbour and all rights and liabilities related to the purchase of land shall also be transferred to him/her. When the entitled person fails to buy the immovable, the rights of acquisition shall be restored to the winner of the auction.
Possibility for set-off The person who has won the state land sales auction may apply for the set-off of the purchase price of the immovable to be acquired with the price of immovable containing protected natural objects and belonging to him/her, in case this immovable is subject to acquisition by the state. The application for set-off shall be submitted in writing to the Ministry of the Environment or the Land Board within 5 working days from the announcement of the auction results. In the application there must be indicated the name, cadastral registration number and estimated value of the immovable containing the protected natural object. When the value of the immovable containing the protected natural object is lower than the value of immovable sold at the auction, the acquirer of state land shall offset the difference in money. When the value of the immovable containing the protected natural object is higher than the value of immovable sold at the auction, the state will not compensate the difference. In case of the timely submission of the application for set-off, neither adjacent neighbours nor legal users of land shall have right of pre-emption as stipulated in the State Assets Act.
Contract The auction results shall be endorsed by the decision of the Minister of Environment in favour of the person who is entitled to acquire the land at the highest auction price. With the owner to be a notarised contract under the law of obligations and real rights shall be entered into within a deadline specified in the decision of results endorsement. Generally, the whole purchase amount must have been credited to the bank account specified by the seller or to the notary public’s account not later than by the day of entry into a notarised contract of sale. Payment for state land in the case of set-off pursuant to the Nature Protection Act differs from the general procedure. The notary fee and the state fee shall be paid by the purchaser. If, pursuant to the Commercial Code, the consent of the supervisory board is required for the conduct of transactions, the consent must be presented upon the entry into the contract of purchase and sale. The new owner is obliged to pay land tax After the transfer of the land ownership the new owner shall be obliged to pay land tax. Land tax is a tax based on the taxable value of land, which is established by a local government differentially in terms of the land value zones and/or the types of intended purposes of the cadastral unit. If the ownership is transferred before the 1st of July of the current year, the obligation of the new owner of land to pay land tax arises as of the1st of July of the same year. Upon the acquisition of land after the 1st of July, the obligation of the new owner of land arises as of the 1st of January of the year following the year in which the land was acquired. Further information about auctions can be obtained from specialists of the Land Board by calling 675 0101, 675 0199, 675 0829 and 675 0158 (in Russian). |
