Limit on Sale of Private Land

Azerbaijan entered into force legislation that presumes restriction on alienation of land plot acquired for the construction of individual residential buildings.

According to the presidential decree of February 2 on the application of the amendments to the law on the controls of municipal land, people that have acquired land from municipal councils or other legal bodies cannot sell it for five years. This limitation should be specified in the decision of the municipal council on the sale of land, as well as other subjects of contract on the sale of land.

Public debate showed that many people agree with this approach, since in many cases land becomes a subject of speculation that leads to artificial increase of prices in the land market and related markets (apartments, building materials, etc.).

At the same time, lawyers believe that the restriction on the sale of land in law is against the property rights provided by the Civil Code. In some specific cases (leaving the country by the land owner on a permanent basis) this may lead to an incident. In their opinion, speculation transactions on purchase and sale of land can be also fought by the use of high tax rates on them. ----- 08B