Shelters and temporary housing arranged in sports facilities, schools, municipal care centres as well as dormitories give people fleeing war a roof over their heads. However, they are not suitable for long-term residence. That is why municipalities are looking for opportunities to increase their housing stock.

Ownerless and abandoned property was discussed during an info session held by the Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

“The issue of housing for internally displaced persons is pressing for every municipality. In some municipalities of the Dnipropetrovsk region, the number of IDPs is more than 10% of the population. One of the reserves for increasing the housing stock is abandoned real estate. The local self-government bodies of the Dnipropetrovsk region have experience in arranging abandoned houses and creating shelters, but it is always important to remind the procedures, share the best practices and help avoid risks in this matter,” said Olena Tertyshna, Head of the Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in the Dnipropetrovsk region. According to her, accounting and registration of the abandoned property is an opportunity to turn defunct houses into municipal asset and help IDPs.

U-LEAD noted that the status of abandoned property is determined by the court. Real estate that was not inherited by anyone becomes property of the municipality. To this end, the local self-government body must apply to the court for recognition of the real estate that has not been inherited by anyone as an abandoned (heirless) property (Article 1277 of the Civil Code).

Inherited property is subject to protection. In rural settlements, this is within the purview of an official of the local self-government body authorised to take heritage protection measures. In cities and towns, this duty is assigned to a notary public.

U-LEAD experts reminded of the procedure local self-governments should follow in relation to abandoned property. Firstly, establish the fact and the date of the testator’s death by inquiring about the date of death of the testators of the property from the State Register of Civil Status Acts.

According to representatives of municipalities that have experience working with abandoned property, starostas, employees of apartment building co-owners associations and public utility service providers as well as local residents themselves can help collect information about the abandoned property.

“We started by explaining the reasons for identifying ownerless property to the workers of municipal services and starostas. Who better than the starostas themselves can point out abandoned houses or buildings in the district? There are cases when locals help. It happens that people have a common property, and after the death of one of the owners, half of the house remains abandoned, begins to collapse. Or when there is an abandoned defunct estate without owners in the neighbourhood. These people are interested in this property becoming municipal, being put in order, finding owners,” said one of the participants of the info session.

Next, collect information about real estate after the deadline for acceptance of the inheritance by the heirs. To do this, inquire the body of the State Registration of Rights to Real Property and Their Encumbrances about the registered right of ownership of real estate at this address or contact the Inheritance Register with an inquiry about the initiated inheritance case and the issuance of a Certificate of the Right to Inheritance in relation to this property.

After a year from the date of the opening of the inheritance, draw up and submit an application to the court to recognise the property as abandoned. When submitting an application for abandoned property, the local self-government body is exempt from paying the court fee. 

The next step is a technical inventory of the property and state registration of the ownership right of the municipality to the abandoned property. The local self-government is exempt from an administrative fee for state registration of property rights.

“Today, building up the resource capacity of the municipality through the use of the abandoned property mechanism is not only a legal requirement but also an imperative of our time. After all, if we are talking about real estate, this property may well become part of social housing. Some municipalities would say that this procedure takes too long. I advise you to start and go through this step by step once to see that the procedure is not that difficult, and the results are worth the effort,” said Liudmyla Hurba, Advisor on Decentralisation and Local Self-Government of the Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in the Vinnytsia region.