Effective strategy implementation

Land policy is one of the key tools for ensuring the implementation of spatial strategies and development programmes. The land policy is thus aimed at creating the spatial conditions for efficient real estate management, the functioning of the land market and, consequently, sustainable spatial development.

Land policy can be actively implemented if it is supported by mutually coordinated administrative and legislative measures, as well as by financial and spatial planning measures.

Instruments for the implementation of active land policy and administrative and financial measures that enable the implementation of development decisions in space are designed and developed by the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning. Land policy measures at the state and municipality levels are implemented to enable the achievement of spatial development objectives and steer the development of settlements, and ensure efficient management of space as a resource.

Land management in the public interest is necessary, as it complements spatial planning and ensures the balance between the supply of building land and development needs. In this way, it ensures meeting the needs of the population and of the business sector as well as other interests.

There is a number of measures for the implementation of active land policy that municipalities and the state can use:

Building land development

Building land development includes:

• Development levels
• Servicing of land
• Land consolidation

The development of building land ensures sufficient areas of serviced building land suitable for the construction of buildings (residential, business, commercial, social purpose buildings, etc.). Building land is developed by providing it with the appropriate infrastructure, adapting the plot structure to the envisaged spatial arrangements and is consequently classified into appropriate development stages, which indicate the potential of individual plots of land and the possibility of carrying out the planned investments.

Building land protection

Building land protection includes the following:

• Construction works
• Consent for altering plot boundaries

Building land protection measures are aimed at primarily protecting the acquired rights. The plot of a building represents an instrument for establishing a legal link between a building and the land that is necessary for its existence and use. The consent for altering plot boundaries ensures a plot structure in a certain area, which is in accordance with the provisions of the spatial planning document.

Land acquisition and rights

Land acquisition and rights includes the following:

• Method of procurement
• Pre-emptive right
• Expropriation

Municipalities and the state may acquire land and rights by means of appropriate administrative measures for the purpose of implementing spatial arrangements in the public interest. One of the instruments is the pre-emptive right of the state or a municipality.

Land policy funding

Land policy funding comprises the following:

• Community infrastructure levy
• Tax on unused land

Land policy financial instruments  are an important source of budgetary funds for building land development. The community infrastructure levy represents part of the costs for the construction of the public utility infrastructure, which a person liable for payment pays to the municipality and is a dedicated source of financing the construction of public utility infrastructure. Municipalities may charge a tax on unused land in order to encourage owners of serviced building land to start using it. As part of the financial measures, the fee for the use of building land, which is the original income of municipalities and the tax for the indirect encumbrance of space as a finite resource through the land on which the facility is built or planned to be built, remains in force until it is replaced by property tax.

Renovation and spatial planning

Renovation and spatial planning include the following:

• Renovation measures
• Imposition of maintenance

The renovation of the existing building stock contributes to sustainable spatial development by encouraging the renovation of existing buildings before building on new undeveloped building land.

Use of public areas and built public good

It is also important to ensure proper spatial planning to enable the general space use and protection of the built public good.

Development stages of building land

Development stages are established for undeveloped building land, which are recorded in the building land register.

Development stages

Development stage 1: unbuildable land
The land is not intended for the construction of buildings or various legal regimes temporarily or permanently do not allow the construction of buildings. As a rule, such land is intended for the construction of public service infrastructure, green arrangements or relief zones and the like.

Development stage 2: undeveloped land
The land is generally not spatially planned in detail, so the conditions for the construction of buildings will be met only when, for example, a municipal detailed spatial plan or other spatial implementation plan is adopted or such land is located in a land consolidation area.

Development stage 3: unserviced land
In order to build on such land, it still needs to be adequately connected to the public utility infrastructure (water supply, sewerage, roads, etc.). 

Development stage 4: developed building land
The construction of residential and non-residential buildings is permitted on such land; they are serviced, meet spatial implementation conditions in terms of size, shape and are not subject to any legal regime that could prevent the construction of buildings.

Development stages are determined on the basis of an evaluation of the parameters of the situation, which depend on the following:

• Land regulation by spatial acts, other related regulations or general acts
• Connection to the public utility infrastructure
• Existence and status of legal regimes applicable to the land
• Actual status

Areas of application of building land  development stages

Spatial planning (building land availability, spatial monitoring)

Based on the records established, spatial planners have the opportunity to prepare appropriate evaluated analyses of the status of physical space. In this way, it is possible to standardise input data and professional bases for the preparation of spatial planning documents and to plan interventions on the basis of uniform criteria. The records will result in the increase of the quality of spatial planning documents and enable their review on the basis of quantitative data. Municipalities will be able to further develop land in higher development stages and encourage the exploitation of their potential, while land in lower development stages could also be returned to their primary use (agricultural or forest land) due to the inability to use it. Such a system could be upgraded with land policy measures to direct and stimulate the development of high-development land, and manage low-development land with greater caution, especially with regard to risky short-term investment in the development of this land.

Spatial economics (site servicing and financial planning)

Municipalities plan public utility infrastructure by drawing up spatial planning documents and site servicing programmes. Based on the records established, it will be possible to more easily assess the needs for new public utility infrastructure and determine the costs of their provision. A record of built-up and unbuilt-up land provides the possibility to standardise the estimates of vacant areas, which represent data inputs and affect the management of the building land and its servicing, and consequently also the amount of the public utilities charge. Thus, there is no duplication of the analyses that are carried out separately for spatial planning documents and site servicing programmes, and the results are more stable and comparable.

Basis for implementation of various land policy measures

Municipalities implement land policy through financial and spatial planning measures. Effective implementation of land policy requires connecting the development stages of undeveloped building land with land policy measures. In this way, municipalities can identify individual problematic or potential land and stimulate individual measures (for example, land consolidation measures at higher development stages) or introduce a financial mechanism (for example, advance payment of public utilities charge for serviced land) and thus recoup part of the invested funds.

Increased investor security

The development stage demonstrates the potential and the development stage of building land, which provides investors with important information for the time and financial planning of their investment.

Land valuation

The development stage is an indicator of the potential of a particular plot of land (potential determined on the basis of the actual state of servicing, spatial planning and spatial constraints), therefore, theoretically and practically indicated facts in physical space should also affect the value of building land.

Servicing of construction land and the community infrastructure levy

The public service infrastructure has important supply and development functions, so adequate and directed development in physical space can be ensured only by taking into account the availability of public infrastructure, sufficient capacity of the existing public infrastructure, its renovation and maintenance, appropriate planning of public infrastructure in detailed spatial development acts and the active servicing of building land.

The servicing of building land provides appropriate community infrastructure (roads, public water supply network, public sewerage network, etc.), which will enable the implementation and subsequent use of planned spatial arrangements. The servicing of building land is the result of planning the development of settlements in spatial planning documents, and falls within the responsibility of municipalities. The municipalities draw up a site servicing programme for planning the servicing of building land. The programme for planning the servicing of building land is a legal act determining the area of servicing, new community infrastructure and other public utility infrastructure, the servicing deadlines and the basis for assessing the amount of community infrastructure levy for new public utility infrastructure. The site servicing programme is adopted by way of an ordinance by the municipal council.

The level of servicing of building land is improved when the land is provided with additional types of community infrastructure that did not previously exist on the building site (for example, a sewerage network is built in the settlement).

The community infrastructure levy is one of the financial resources used for land policy implementation. It is the only systemic source of financing for the construction of community infrastructure. The community infrastructure levy for the construction of a new community infrastructure consists of the payment of part of the costs for the construction of a public utility infrastructure, which a person liable for payment pays to the municipality. The community infrastructure levy for the existing  community infrastructure is a levy paid by a liable person for the use of the existing community infrastructure to the municipality. Determining the bases for the assessment of the community infrastructure levy and its assessment are the responsibility of the individual municipalities. Municipalities determine the bases for assessing the community infrastructure levy for a new community infrastructure by a site servicing programme and the bases for assessing the community infrastructure levy for the existing one by way of ordinance on the bases for assessing the community infrastructure levy for the existing community infrastructure. By paying the community infrastructure levy, the liable person acquires the right to connect to or use the community infrastructure network.

The municipality issues a notice assessing the amount of the community infrastructure levy. The community infrastructure levy may be only be assessed for the use of the community infrastructure which includes the following:

• Built public good facilities: municipal roads, public parking areas, children's playgrounds, green and other public areas;
• Facilities and infrastructure networks for the implementation of mandatory local public utility services for environmental protection in accordance with regulations governing environmental protection: water supply network, sewerage network and facilities for the provision of mandatory municipal utility services for the collection, treatment and disposal of municipal waste;
• Facilities and infrastructure networks for the implementation of optional local public utility services in accordance with the regulations governing energy: the gas pipeline network and district heating and cooling network.

The funds received by municipalities as payment of the community infrastructure levy must be used to finance the construction of a community infrastructure.

Payment of the community infrastructure levy means that all costs regarding the connection of the built facility to the public utility infrastructure are settled, except the construction of privately owned parts of the connection. The costs of the construction of connections to the public utility infrastructure are borne by the investor.

The consent for altering plot boundaries

The consent for altering plot boundaries is a land policy measure ensuring that the plot structure in a certain area is maintained in accordance with the provisions of the spatial plan.

Consent for altering plot boundaries is required for:

• Altering the boundaries of building plots and their appertaining land from the building land record,
• Altering plot boundaries in areas determined by a municipal ordinance.

If the municipality determines such areas by ordinance, it is obliged to forward the graphic data used to define such areas to the Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Republic of Slovenia, which registers them in the land cadastre. Thus, property owners and surveying companies are aware of any restrictions arising from the municipal Ordinance granting consent to alter a plot boundary. Municipalities submit such graphic data to the Surveying and Mapping Authority in accordance with the aforementioned Ministerial Instruction No. 1.

The consent is issued by the municipality within 15 days of receiving a complete request from the property owner or land surveying firm providing the service.

Changes cannot be recorded in the land cadastre without such consent.

Fee for the use of building land

The fee for the use of building land is the original income of municipalities and tax for the indirect burdening of the environment as a finite resource through the land on which a facility is built or planned to be built.