In accordance with current legislation, the vast majority of land resources are classified as agricultural funds. It is planned to grow various crops, preserve and manufacture agricultural products.

As a rule, such lands are located far from populated areas. That is why they are also ideal for the construction of industrial buildings. The main problem is the ban on the construction of such buildings in areas allocated for agriculture.

There are various solutions to these difficulties. One of the most popular methods is the transfer of land from agricultural use to industrial use, as well as the transfer of industrial land to other categories.

This procedure takes a lot of time, material and psychological costs.

The concept of assigning land to a certain category

The assignment of lands to certain categories and their transfer from one category to another is carried out by authorized federal authorities, and also applications for the transfer of lands from one category to another can be considered by local government bodies.

In accordance with the legislative act regulating the process of transferring lands and land plots from one category to another, this process is mandatory.

A complete list of categories is provided in the Land Code of the Russian Federation.

According to Russian legislation, land categories mean the division of plots into groups according to their intended purpose. In total, the above Code distinguishes several categories, including:

• agricultural land;
• lands of populated areas;
• industrial lands;
• lands of specially protected areas;
• forest lands;
• water fund lands;
• reserve lands.

When is it permitted to transfer agricultural land to another category?

The main difficulty is that it is not always allowed to transfer agricultural land to another category. This is permissible in the following cases:

1. Conservation and creation of a specially protected area, as well as changing the type of permitted use of the site to recreational, environmental, etc.
2. Adjustment or establishment of the boundaries of a populated area.
3. Placement of industrial facilities whose cadastral value exceeds the market average.
4. Fulfillment of international obligations.
5. Mining.
6. Placement of municipal, domestic or social facilities, as well as for educational and healthcare purposes.
7. Construction of power lines, roads, railways and various pipelines.

In accordance with Art. 79 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation, it is impossible to transfer agricultural land to another category if the cadastral value of the future site exceeds the average for the region by more than 50%. The transfer of particularly valuable and productive lands is also prohibited.

Documents containing an indication of the category of land

At the legislative level, it is established that some documents must necessarily contain information about the belonging of the land to one or another category. Article 8 of the Land Code contains an exhaustive list of such documents, which include:

• contracts in which certain land plots are the subject of the transaction;
• State cadastre containing information about real estate objects;
• documents necessary for carrying out the procedure for registering rights to real estate, conducting any transactions with such an object;
• other documents that must contain this information only in cases established by law and enshrined in acts of the state, subject and municipal levels.

Authorities carrying out the transfer of land from one category to another

At the moment, the task of initially establishing the exact category of a specific land plot is no longer a priority. Now more and more attention is being paid to the task of proper organizational and legal support for the transfer of land from one category to another.

At the legislative level, it was determined to use the concept of land ownership as a criterion for selecting the competent authority that categorizes lands.

• So, for example, if we are talking about a plot of land that is federally owned, then exclusively the Government of the Russian Federation has the right to make a decision on the transfer.
• If a land plot is considered that is owned by a certain subject of the state, then the issues of its transfer should be dealt with by the executive body of this particular subject.
• In the case when we are talking about a site that is in municipal ownership, the decision on the transfer of land should be made at the municipal level, by the self-government bodies located there.

Transfer of lands in municipal, federal and private ownership

If we consider separately the process of transferring federal lands located in one category to another, we can see that in practice there is a problem in establishing a competent authority that can be authorized to carry out this clearly defined action. This problem arose due to the fact that the procedure for delimiting the property of subjects and the state was not properly established at the legislative level.

In accordance with the law on the implementation of the transfer, before the immediate process of delimitation of federal property or individual land plots as part of such lands, this transfer must be carried out by the Government, provided that this measure satisfies state needs.

In addition, this authorized body must perform certain functions when it comes to changing boundaries located within cities of federal significance, which include St. Petersburg and Moscow.

In all other cases, when the transfer of municipal or private land is carried out by establishing the border of a certain territory of a subject of the country, the competent body whose powers are confirmed at the legislative level is considered authorized to carry out such actions. Most often, such bodies are the executive authorities of the subjects of the state, however, in some cases, emphasized in legislative acts, this action can also be carried out by municipal authorities.

How to convert agricultural land into industrial land

Changing the category of land is a lengthy procedure. If the reason for transferring the land to industrial is valid, then it is necessary to draw up an application, prepare documents and transfer the package to the municipality or other body within whose competence the land is located.

A reclamation project must be attached to the package of documents. This is a set of measures that is necessary to restore the environment as a result of conducting the planned type of activity. In addition, state environmental assessment is applied.

After reviewing the reclamation project and other documents, a decision on transfer will be made. If it is positive, then a resolution is drawn up, in accordance with which the land category is transferred. To do this, you should contact Rosreestr or MFC.

As a result, the applicant is left with a transfer act, an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate and a land lease agreement. The last document is issued when the land is transferred for use on a lease basis.

Transfer of land from one category to another and legal regulation of this procedure

Any transfer of land to another category within one site must be regulated at the legislative level. For some of the areas, certain rules are established, for example, for agricultural lands, reserve lands and lands of populated areas. At the moment, legal regulation of this process is carried out on the basis of several acts, including:

• Land Code of the Russian Federation;
• Law on the transfer of lands or land plots from one category to another;
• other acts that are adopted in the manner established by federal legislation at the subject and municipal level.

If we dwell in more detail on other legislative acts, which, as a rule, apply only to a number of subjects located on the territory of the Russian Federation, we can highlight the law “On the Protection of Lake Baikal”, an act on artificial areas created on water bodies that are the property of the country.

Grounds for transferring agricultural land to settlement land

There are a number of regulations that regulate the procedure for changing the purpose of a land plot. The Land Code defines the concept of agricultural land. Such lands include those that are located outside the populated area and that are intended to meet the needs of agriculture.

The law determines that both individual citizens, various organizational and municipal entities, and even the state itself can own lands of this category.

Important!!! Foreign citizens and legal entities, as well as those structures that have more than 50% of foreign investments in the authorized capital, cannot be the owners of such land. They can act exclusively as tenants.

The Law “On the transfer of land... from one category to another” contains a closed list of reasons why land intended for agriculture may be classified as another category. This is possible if:

1. a decision was made to conserve land;
2. natural areas have been created that must be strictly protected;
3. a decision has been made that establishes or changes the existing boundaries of a city or other populated area;
4. industrial facilities will be located on lands allocated for agricultural activities;
5. a project for the reclamation of a certain part of the land on which roads, power lines or other linear objects will be built has been approved;
6. lands that are recognized as unsuitable for agriculture will be included in lands belonging to water, forest funds, or reserve lands;
7. a land reclamation plan for mineral extraction was approved;
8. it is planned to place communal facilities on the land, since their placement in another place is not possible;
9. in order to ensure the defense of the Russian Federation, it is necessary to fulfill international obligations.

There are 2 situations that make it unrealistic to transfer agricultural lands to settlement lands:

1. when the question concerns land plots, the cadastral value of which is much higher than the average level of cadastral value for the area (more precisely, by more than 50 percent);
2. if the plot has the status of especially valuable agricultural land of increased productivity.

Transfer of agricultural land to another category

Land law and, accordingly, the land policy based on it, base all its actions on the need to ensure the protection of agricultural lands. After all, such areas are considered to be indispensable for human life; moreover, their fertility is very difficult to restore.

Consequently, due to a change in category from agricultural to another, the state loses not only a means of production that is actively used in agriculture, but also an important component of the natural environment. It is this reason that justifies the fact that only a public authority can deal with issues of land transfer, and it does not matter whether the property is municipal or private.

Transfer of forest fund lands to another category

As a rule, such a transfer of forest fund lands is carried out only to meet the goals established in the Forest Code of the Russian Federation, namely, to carry out survey work, which are stipulated in the relevant act of federal legislation.

Carrying out other types of activities not established in the above acts is not permitted on the basis of the law in force in the country and individual municipalities.

To carry out any actions that do not correspond to the existing category of land, it is necessary to transfer the land to another category. However, it is problematic to transfer forest lands, because the application submitted to the authorized authority will be carefully considered over the next two weeks to determine the possibility of giving instructions for such a procedure.

Transfer of lands of settlements to another category

The transfer of lands located within populated areas to another category implies the performance of certain actions:

• changing existing or establishing new boundaries of settlements.
• inclusion of new land plots within existing boundaries.
• exclusion of one or more land plots from existing boundaries of settlements.

All changes that occurred as a result of the transfer of land in settlements must be transferred to the state cadastre of information on real estate through the local municipal governing body. As a result of this, areas that have undergone any changes during the transfer are assigned new cadastral numbers.

Transfer of industrial land from one category to another

If it is necessary to transfer lands located on the territory of enterprises for the needs of space activities, defense lands or other special-purpose needs, the transfer is carried out without any restrictions. The exception is when the land is equipped with buildings and structures. In this case, in order to change the category, it is necessary to provide a land reclamation plan.

The situation is similar with the transfer of land in which the soil layer is disturbed. With such a transfer, it is necessary to carry out restoration work aimed at giving the soil layer its original appearance and provide a reclamation plan.

Legal regime of industrial lands

The regime for the use of industrial land is established taking into account the development of the industry. In a general sense, industrial sites are intended to accommodate production facilities.

In land legislation there is the following definition of industrial land. These territories are intended to support the activities of enterprises and the operation of production facilities. Such lands may include protected areas and sanitary protection zones with special uses.

An important element of the use of an industrial site is the need to comply with sanitary standards and rules. For example, trees should be planted along the perimeter of the site. In this way, the standards established regarding permissible pollution of the territory are observed.

If difficulties arise, please seek legal advice. You can get free legal assistance on our website. in a special window.

Converting land from agricultural use to industrial use is a complex, lengthy and labor-intensive process. It can drag on for up to six months. Contacting a lawyer in a timely manner will help speed up the process.

Transfer of reserve lands and specially protected areas to another category

Transfer of lands of specially protected areas and reserve lands to another category is possible only upon carrying out the established examination and obtaining a conclusion provided by the authorized state body.

Such a procedure for changing the category of reserve land is allowed only if necessary:

• create a new specially protected territory or reserve land;
• create a special tourist and recreational economic zone.

To regulate the process of land transfer, a federal law has been adopted, which provides for the need to submit a petition about the desire to change the category of land and give the reserve lands a different purpose. A petition for the transfer of reserve lands must be submitted to the authorized body, which will make a decision on carrying out such an action on a specific land plot. The submitted application must include certain information:

• cadastral number of reserve lands;
• category of land;
• justification for transferring reserve land to another category;
• confirmation of the right to reserve land.

Documents for transferring land to industrial use

If the land plot meets all the requirements for transfer, then the following documents must be prepared:

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• application - drawn up in the name of the head of the municipality, the text indicates identification information about the site and a request to change the existing category;
• general passport;
• extract from the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs - if the applicant is an individual entrepreneur;
• extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities - if the applicant is a legal entity;
• title document and its copy (the basis document by which a person uses the site);
• technical documentation for the land plot;
• boundary plan;
• certificates in forms KV-1, KV-2, KV-3 - issued by Rosreestr;
• documents confirming ownership of buildings erected on the site, if any.

If the land plot is leased, you will also need to obtain the owner’s consent to change the category of land.

All documents can be transferred in person, through a representative, or by sending a registered letter with a list of attachments and acknowledgment of delivery. When a representative acts on behalf of the applicant, it is also necessary to provide a notarized power of attorney.

If, as a result of consideration by the administration, a positive decision is made, then the next stage of the procedure is to undergo examinations, obtain the consent of various authorities, protect the created project and make changes to the Unified Register of Rights.

To apply to Rosreestr you will need the following documents:

• application for amendments to the register of rights - issued by an employee of Rosreestr or MFC or can be found on the official website of the department;
• boundary plan;
• cadastral documentation;
• an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate, which indicates the ownership of the plot by the owner;
• municipal permission to change the category of land;
• general passport;
• results of the examinations carried out;
• project of the planned production facility.

Even at the stage of collecting documents and preparing an application to change the category of land, you may need the help of a lawyer. It is better to contact a specialist in advance to prevent errors and violations of the law.

Rationale for land transfer and problems arising during transfer

A petition to transfer land from one category to another can be considered justified only if this document contains all the necessary information, namely:

• cadastral number of the plot;
• category of land into which the land plot belongs;
• category to which you want to transfer.
• confirmation of ownership of the land plot;
• justification for transferring a land plot from one category of land to another.

The main problem that arises when transferring land is the difficulty of resolving this issue with the authorized bodies. Land is considered an important natural resource, which is always required for normal human life, therefore, for example, turning agricultural land into industrial land will be quite difficult.

Who needs the transfer of agricultural land and why?

The Land Code provides for the definition of industrial territories. According to current laws, industrial structures and installations that are aimed at the production of consumer goods and industrial products can be built on these lands.

This category also includes lands where it is permitted to conduct geological exploration and extract minerals. The use of industrial territories for their intended purpose is regulated by the current Land Code.

Industrial land plots are divided into two types:

1. Lands on which certain industrial facilities operated in former times.
2. Former agricultural lands that have undergone the procedure of assignment to industrial lands.

Violation of the procedure for transfer of lands and invalidation of the transfer act

Problems of land transfer occur quite often, therefore, if the distribution of the land fund by land category is carried out in violation of the norms established by law, acts on the assignment of lands to certain territories will be declared invalid.

As judicial practice shows, such decisions occur quite often. For example, some acts provided by public authorities quite often lose their force due to the fact that this body does not have any authority to carry out such actions to transfer property.

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