State land is being taken away from assessment – Newspaper Kommersant No. 179 (7380) of 09/28/2022

Rosreestr proposes to unify the mechanism for calculating the rent for state-owned land plots, for this purpose refusing to involve specialized companies to assess the market value of land. The agency believes that in order to determine the rent for plots, there is enough data on their cadastral value – the amount of rent will be fixed and vary at the level of 1.5-3% of the cost of the plot. It is assumed that the unification of the procedure will increase transparency in this market and reduce the time and financial costs of the state. Since the cadastral value is reviewed only once every three years, experts believe that the initiative will increase market predictability, but may also lead to higher rents.

Rosreestr published on regulation.gov.ru a draft government decree amending the rules for determining the amount of rent for land in federal ownership. Now the cost of the lease is determined on the basis of the report on the assessment of the market value of the right to lease. Exceptions apply, for example, when land plots are leased without bidding on preferential terms or for the construction of roads and infrastructure facilities (transport, sports, housing and communal services) – in this case, the rent is already determined on the basis of the cadastral value of the site or is calculated in accordance with the rates of Rosreestr. The department considers the determination of rent based on the cadastral value more appropriate, and they see the market valuation as excessive.

The department explains that when preparing a report, appraisers determine the market value of the site, which is then adjusted for the amount of transferred rights – as a result, the annual lease of the site is 1.5% or more of its market value. According to the Federal Property Management Agency, as of March 2022, there were about 8 thousand contracts, the rent for which is determined in this way – the annual amount of lease payments for them is 5.4 billion rubles.

Rosreestr proposes to abandon redundant procedures. According to the project, the lease will be determined in the amount of 3% of the cadastral value of land for the operation of buildings, structures and construction in progress on them. For the owner of such objects, the lease amount will remain at the level of 1.5% of the cadastral value. The rent of plots for unitary enterprises under the jurisdiction of the Presidential Administration will cost the same amount. Rosreestr believes that the project will simplify and optimize the administration of rent for federally owned land. Thus, for 2019-2021, the cost of conducting an assessment exceeds 45 million rubles, while it takes from 18 to 50 days to select an appraiser under the law on public procurement and prepare a report.

The business community yesterday found it difficult to comment on the Rosreestr’s initiative, while experts disagreed about its expediency. “Now the cadastral value is close to the market value, and often even exceeds it. This trend may intensify due to current events, and the cadastral value is reviewed only once every three years, that is, the adoption of the project may lead to an increase in the cost of rent, ”Oleg Kolotilov, partner at Kulkov, Kolotilov and Partners, explained to Kommersant. For the budget, this, in addition to saving on valuation, guarantees non-reduction of income. Petr Kiryanov, head of the GR-practice of the consulting agency KROS, believes that the measure, on the contrary, will protect new tenants of state-owned land from revising the rent agreed at the start. “As a result, any tenant can quickly understand under what conditions he takes a plot of land in state ownership for use,” the expert points out. At the same time, in his opinion, the initiative will have a limited effect on the business of appraisers, since the participation of appraisers is required not only for a lease agreement, but for collateral and other land transactions.

Diana Galieva