Agricultural properties and residence obligations
The properties are fundamental to generating value in farming. Anyone who buys or inherits an undeveloped agricultural property, or a developed property of an area of over 100 decares in total, or with more than 35 deacares of cultivated and/or surface cultivated farmland, must apply for a concession.
The Concession Act applies to most types of real estate acquisitions (bought or inherited). The purpose of the Concession Act is to support traditional family farming, but the law is also beneficial for those who would like to develop properties with new businesses and for those who would like to live in a farmyard.
Residential obligations
It is a political objective to have housing throughout the country, something which is, among other things, ensured through residential obligations. The residential obligation applies, as is stated in law, when a person has an allodial right or, through a close relative, becomes the owner of a built-up property with over 35 decares of cultivated land or 500 decares of forest. The residential obligation can also be made a condition in a concessions case. The individual municipality can also introduce a residential obligation for anyone buying or inheriting year-round, permanent residences.
The Land Act
The Land Act reflects the agricultural and political objective of safeguarding land resources and of maintaining and improving the resources available to individual farms. Among other things, this means that anyone who owns cultivated land is responsible for ensuring that the land is cultivated.
The Land Act includes rules regarding residential obligations, the re-purposing of cultivated and cultivable land and the division of agricultural property. Municipalities process and make rulings in cases as per the Land Act and the Concessions Act, and the County Governor is the administrative appeals body.