Do not buy a plot of land without a zoning plan check, or without zoning-planning information.
As a real estate agency, we often come across cases where we sell arable land and potential buyers ask us if they could build a house, a cottage, etc... we always have zoning-planning information for the land and without precisely informing clients, what the land is intended for, we don't even sell it.
An example from our practice: the owner in Slovak village offered us a plot of land that was far away from family houses and she wanted to sell it as a building plot. Based on spatial planning information, we found out that the construction of family houses is possible on the given street, but only on one side of the road. The land was on the other side of the road and construction was no longer possible there. So we could only sell it as a garden, although the nets were very close. Sometimes it may seem that you are buying a building plot, but the plot may be right on the border of the territory, where possible construction is no longer possible.
It is also important to find out, for example, the protective zones of the network, in which it is not possible to build or there are also protected areas - bio - corridors, which are often close to building plots, but construction is not possible there.
Can interested parties buy the plot of land as an investment that will become a building plot in the future?
Yes, interested parties can buy land as an investment and believe that there will be a change in the zoning plan. We also sell land that is, for example, a reserve of a village or city intended for future construction as a development site with a perspective, e.g. 5 to 10 years.
Can buyers think that they will propose and arrange a change in the zoning plan and change the purpose of using the land?
Territorial plans do not change municipalities and cities often, approx. every 5-10 years according to development needs. The process always takes a long time, in villages it can take a year or two, in cities even several years.
Are exceptions possible?
Exceptions are e.g. in the case of public interest or the arrival of large investors, when deputies can approve changes to the territorial plan in an extraordinary manner, e.g. a car company will come to the region, etc.
If you have questions about the topic of buying land in Slovakia, we will be happy to answer them.
Ing. Ľubomíra Lacková, kluc@kluc.sk
A story from practice in the RTVS report: Some people may encounter a problem when buying land.
