Why Lukashenko Calls for Buying Empty Houses in Villages

ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO at the republican holiday "Kupalye" ("Alexandria gathers friends") July, 2024 Alexander Lukashenko at the republican holiday "Kupalye" ("Alexandria gathers friends") July, 2024 Alexander Lukashenko at the republican holiday "Kupalye" ("Alexandria gathers friends") July, 2024

• 1
• 2
• 3

Topic news June 2020. The CORONAVIRUS pandemic is in full swing. Doctors never tire of repeating: keep your distance, wear masks, and better yet, avoid crowded places. You must admit that it is difficult to be "far away" from people in the city. Those who have the opportunity, go to villages and work remotely. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko then instructed to simplify the conditions for purchasing land outside large cities. The main principle: pay money - receive a document on land ownership. In this episode of the BELTA YouTube project "In Fact: Channel One's Decisions" we will tell you how to buy real estate for Br40, which region has the most empty houses, and how to become the owner of "golden" land near MINSK.

How the pandemic affected the interest of Belarusians in suburban real estate
The pandemic has increased the interest of Belarusians in suburban real estate. Rental prices for summer cottages and estates have increased. Even those who could not imagine their life outside the city "concrete" have started thinking about buying a house in the village. But not everyone can afford to buy a ready-made house with a well-kept plot. At a meeting with the activists of the Minsk region, Alexander Lukashenko said: unpromising cities and villages will be restored in Belarus. And it is worth hurrying to buy plots there.



"I want us to identify those undeveloped patches of land that we have in villages and agro-towns in the next five years. Where there are unpromising areas. We must give them to the people. I want every Belarusian to have this patch of land. So that he is healthy. And this patch of land - it will be worth its weight in gold," the HEAD of state expressed confidence in this at a meeting with the activists of the Minsk region in June 2020.


Many questions remained open: how to alienate these houses and then sell them? What algorithm should executive committees follow? And most importantly: how much should abandoned houses cost?  


"We have a sea of ​​such good farmsteads, villages. And in these villages there are many empty estates. These empty estates, unkempt plots (and there are thousands of hectares of them across the country) should be given to people. For pennies. They should pay, but not much. Someone will build a dacha, someone for children, someone for old people. During the pandemic, we were saved by the fact that we took many old people to the villages. They asked: well, take them out! Let them sit there in the spring and summer. We managed to save the old people," Alexander Lukashenko emphasized during his acquaintance with the development of the Ostrovets district and the Grodno region during a visit to the Belarusian NPP in November 2020.
Where to get information about empty houses Alexander Lukashenko March 24, 2021 "On the alienation of residential buildings in rural areas and improving work with empty houses." Becoming the owner of suburban real estate is now easier and faster. "This year, the task of the entire vertical of power is to sell these houses. Or demolish them, bury them, if no one needs them. But we have a good process going. City dwellers have started buying up such houses. And even in the most remote villages. Therefore, your task is to either demolish or sell all these houses. But the main thing for you is to cultivate these garden plots," the Belarusian leader instructed officials about the situation in the agro-industrial complex in April 2021. Empty houses are collected in a single register. The site contains all the information: area of ​​​​the building and plot, degree of wear, availability of communications, photographs. Currently, there are 19.5 thousand houses in the register. Most of them are in the Minsk, Vitebsk and Mogilev regions, the least - in the Grodno region. 




"Since the decree came into force, about 1.5 thousand empty houses have been sold. The Minsk region is the leader. If we talk about the central region, 374 houses were sold here, 365 in the Mogilev region, and about 300 in the Vitebsk region," said Yevgeny Baturevich, a consultant at the land relations regulation department of the State Property Committee.
Which houses in Belarus are considered empty?
Houses are considered empty if their owners have neglected their garden plot and do not maintain it. And the house itself is in a state of emergency, is in danger of collapsing or is destroyed. In addition, no one has lived there for more than three years. The executive committee sends a notice to the owner. And if he does nothing, the COURT may declare the house ownerless. And the local authorities will sell it. Perhaps for one basic unit - Br40. This is a little more than a thousand Russian. Or through an auction.

"Executive committees are more guided by the value of the land plot on which such residential buildings are located. Because they all, in essence, require the same investment. An empty dilapidated house in the Minsk region and in a region far from the capital requires the same approach. And the executive committee sells houses on more popular plots through an auction," explained Evgeny Baturevich.
Why the Belarusian village attracts Russians
Not only Belarusians, but also foreigners can buy an empty house for one base rate. Of course, this is more often done by their closest neighbors - Russians . This is what the Egorov family did. They moved to Belarus from the Leningrad region .



"We wanted a house 100 km from Minsk, but we also went to look at houses 126 km away. Before buying this house, we looked at six others. My husband saw that this house had appeared. It is 100 km from the Moscow Ring Road. He suggested going and looking. We really liked the village. It is very lively here, with many neighbors. And we immediately went to the village council to find out about this house," said Russian Anastasia Egorova.  
Two more people were applying for the house. Therefore, the village council disappointed the young family: the property would be sold at an auction.

"We wrote an application, but we were so upset. We did not have the money to buy a dacha in the village. And if you buy a house at an auction, you have to fight for it. But we decided for ourselves that we would go to the auction. We had a certain amount, and we were ready to increase it. Later they called us and said that other applicants had refused the house, and we were the only ones," said Anastasia Egorova.

"We must keep in mind that in our country there is a mandatory principle of state registration of real estate. When purchasing real estate, we are obliged to register it with the state registration organization. This is an administrative procedure for which a fee is charged. Also, these empty houses are located on plots for which documents have not been issued. And accordingly, this responsibility falls on the person who purchases such a house," explained Evgeny Baturevich.

In total, with all the necessary registration, a house on a plot of fifteen acres costs the Egorovs approximately one and a half thousand Belarusian rubles.

"People ask me how much money comes out for the house in the end. Is it true that one basic. I posted a video on Tik-Tok, and there were a lot of questions about how much more needs to be paid for registration, electricity, etc.," said Anastasia Egorova.
It is necessary to take into account: the village is located next to an agro-town, the road is paved, and there is a water supply along the street. Anastasia Egorova shows how the house is changing in her blog on social networks. Subscribers ask a lot of questions.

Anastasia's husband, Fyodor Egorov, said that the wiring is currently being done in the house, and the next plan is to finish the walls. "Then we need to call a stove-maker to diagnose the stoves. In general, the house is planned exclusively as a summer house. In order to live here, it needs to be completely rebuilt. But for a summer house, this is a very good option," the man believes.

Of course, you shouldn't expect to get a "move in and live" house for Br40. If you have a goal to move, you need to invest effort and money. But if you need the atmosphere of village life, you should look for your place of power in the register of empty houses.

"Our neighbors came to meet us, our parents came on vacation . Naturally, we got out here to relax, barbecued. We found out that the neighbor had her own cows. We agreed that she would sell MILK ," added Fyodor Egorov.
How much do houses cost in Minsk and the suburbs of the capital
In Minsk and regional cities, you can't buy a house for the base price. Only through an auction. In the suburbs of the capital, you will also have to fight for real estate. First, the property is assessed. This is done by the central agency for state registration. This is the starting price for the auction. It can either rise or fall. For example, two years ago, on this site in the Minsk region, there was a house of a lonely pensioner. After her death, the house was valued at $16 thousand. But no one wanted to buy it for that price. The auction did not take place. Then the executive committee reduced the price by half. And the house found its owner. And he, in turn, decided to demolish the old house and build a new one.
 

"After the owner appeared on this plot of land, we see that everything is well-kept, construction work is underway. There are no questions about either the plot or the person. You could say it's a new life," said Marina Astrovka, chairperson of the Krupitskoye rural executive committee.
Another example. Also Minsk region. The village of Chernoleski. Seventeen kilometers from the Moscow Ring Road. It would seem to be golden, promising land. According to the documents, there are two apartments here. In reality, there is one house. Part of it was recognized as empty back in 2021. And the executive committee staff had to persuade the second heir to take care of the house for several years. It didn't work out. They had to take a different path.

"We met with the heir, gave instructions, had conversations at a personal reception. Everything was in vain. That is why the house is in such a neglected state. The neighbors complain because there is goldenrod and hogweed, not to mention other weeds. Therefore, by the decision of the Minsk District Court in April of this year, the second apartment was also recognized as ownerless and transferred to the Krupitsky Village Council," said Marina Astrovka.

Now the house is valued at almost Br25 thousand. This is more than six hundred thousand Russian rubles. The date of the auction will be set soon. It is unknown who will buy the house and for how much. This house, like other empty houses, regardless of location, has a sad story. But the new owners will definitely write theirs.



"Dear Belarusians and our closest friends from Ukraine and RUSSIA, think about my proposal to buy small plots of land in the so-called unpromising villages for pennies, for pennies. You know that our villages have been saved. We are building more than one and a half thousand agro-towns, it has already been determined where they will be. We have medium and very small villages left, where many, many people used to live. These are wonderful places, a miracle place. They should not perish - these medium-sized villages, small ones. And who will restore them, who will preserve them? We are with you!" Alexander Lukashenko addressed his compatriots and neighbors of Belarus at the republican holiday "Kupalye" ("Alexandria gathers friends") in July this year.
BELTA