FAO : SD Dimensions : Institutions : Land tenure

Posted April 1997

Bertinoro I
High-level Technical Seminar:
Private and Public Sector Cooperation
in National Land Tenure Development in Eastern and Central Europe
University Residential Centre
Bertinoro, Italy
1-5 April 1997

Land Tenure - Experience in Estonia

by Mr. Maido Pajo
Rural Affairs Committee
Estonian Parlament

Introduction

With the implementation of land reform, i.e. with privatisation and restitution of land, also a well functioning land market is being created in Estonia after a 50 year interval. It is a well-known fact that during the Soviet period all land in Estonia was in state ownership, for everybody else the only right in land was the right of use. The implementation of land reform as well as the creation of land market requires also a major reorganisation in the land administration system. In Estonian conditions it actually means that an entirely new land administration system has to be established, because the system of the Soviet period does not meet the objectives and requirements of the new situation. The principles of the new land administration system and the speed of its development help to speed up the land reform process too. Thus, the impact is complex and there is a great interaction between the processes.

Land reform and land administration system in Estonia and its development

The land administration system includes several governmental agencies the most important of them being the Government of Estonia, Ministry of Environment, Estonian National Land Board operating under the aegis of Ministry of Environment, and Ministry of Justice. On the county level in 15 counties land related issues are administered by local title book offices, county governors and local land boards within county governments.

All the above governmental agencies have been authorised to deal with land administration and the implementation of land reform. Several land related issues are settled on the level of local governments. The major part of works in connection with land restitution and privatization is performed by local governments. The final registration of ownership in the Land Cadastre and in the Title Book (Land Register) is, however, the responsibility of governmental institutions.

The National Land Board includes the Land Cadastre and local cadastral offices in every county. The Central Department of Land Cadastre is divided into several divisions, among them the Division of Land Valuation, the Division of Cadastral Index Map, the Division of Information Technology and the Archive. Other objectives of ENLB are as following:

to organise the activities in the field of geodesy and cartography
to deal with land management questions (property formation)
to coordinate international support.

In the field of land management ENLB is responsible for developing the principles and procedures for property formation. The Law on Land Management and the Law on Physical Planning and Construction were adopted in 1995.

Land surveying is performed by chartered land surveyors, even the state orders works from them. ENLB carries out attestations of surveyors, issues licences to them, provides training and supervision. The total number of chartered surveyors is about 300.

In order to develop a new and economically justified land use pattern, the property formation during land reform is of crucial importance. Property formation is financed by the customers, works ordered by the state are financed from the state budget. According to the Law on Physical Planning and Construction, all comprehensive and detail plans both on central, county and local levels made so far should be reviewed. Also the compilation of plans is financed by customers.

In the field of land valuation. For determining the taxation value of land, ENLB is developing principles and methods for land valuation. Land valuation is regulated by the Law on Land Valuation which was adopted in 1994. Land is valued by licensed land valuers, i.e. private persons or companies, the state uses their services as well. ENLB organises training for land valuers, issues licences, performs methodical supervision and control. There are approximately 70 licenced valuers. Land assessment has been performed twice: in 1993 and in 1996. The land valuation process and all valuation results are public.

In the field of geodesy and cartography. ENLB develops the guidelines for geodetic and cartographic activities and organises the production of Estonian base and basic maps as well as that of cadastral index maps. In this field ENLB is in close cooperation with the State Enterprise Estonian Map Centre. This company operates also under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Environment. The Estonian Map Centre produces maps for defence purposes, basic maps and cadastral index maps. The production of other maps as well as the majority of geodetic works are performed by private companies. Supervision and control over these companies are exercised by ENLB.

Cornerstones of the Estonian land administration system: the Land Cadastre and the Title Book

Title Book

One of the key issues for the implementation of land reform was the creation and development of the Title Book. Land registration is regulated by the Law on Title Book which was passed in 1993. The Estonian land registration system is based on the German legal system. All real properties are to be registered in the Title Book, land registration is entirely financed from the state budget. The register is public and everyone is entitled to take a look of the information and obtain abstracts of titles. Title book offices have been established in every county and they are operating at district courts. It means that titling of real properties has been separated from the executive power being thus under the jurisdiction of the judicial authority.

During the land reform approximately 30 000 parcels have been entered into the Title Book, about 10% of them have been repeated transactions, which indicates a constant development of the land market.

**Land ownership registration in the years of 1994 -1996**
Land Registered in Title Book
Period	Units
1994-96	27 000
1994	4,000
1995	9,000
1996	14,000

Land Cadastre

Due to the land reform and a completely new situation, a profound reorganisation of cadastral registration has also been necessary. The activities of the Land Cadastre are based on the Law on Land Cadastre which was adopted in 1994. The Land Cadastre is a part of ENLB and it has its local offices in every county. The total number of offices is 15. The Land Cadastre is financed from the state budget. There are at least 16 different attributes for each parcel in the Cadastral Register. For each parcel a cadastral map, a cadastral index map, a map of restrictions, a map of land use, a map of land quality as well as that of land valuation are made.

Thus, it can be said that regardless the extensive reorganisation the land administration system has remained governmental and is financed mainly from the state budget.

At the same time practically all works and services within the system are performed by the private sector. Two big governmental agencies which had a monopoly in property formation, land valuation and planning activities have been dissolved. In practice all property formation works are now carried out by private land surveyors, who perform the works according to orders from customers and get paid according to mutual agreements, there are no fixed rates. The Government has enacted fixed rates only for works to be ordered by the state and, as a rule, public tendering is organised for the procurement of such works.

Thus, land surveyors operate entirely under the conditions of market competition. As the work of land surveyors results in registration in the Land Cadastre, the correspondence of work to the set requirements and its quality are the best control mechanism, otherwise the client would not pay for the work or it would have to be redone.

Land Information System and its development

Both the Title Book and the Land Cadastre have a database necessary for their functioning. The Title Book registers basic data on ownership and other rights in land including mortgages. One of the objectives of Cadastre is to provide the Government, local governments and all interested parties with information on land ownership, land use and land value. The Law on Land Cadastre stipulates the entry of at least 16 different attributes for each parcel. Of great importance is the mutual cooperation and data exchange between the Land Cadastre and the Title Book. Even the Law on Land Cadastre prescribes the obligations regarding data exchange.

Thus, the cadastral registrar must provide the title book office with data on the size of property, on changes in the size as well as on the land use and changes in it. The title book office in its turn has to provide the Cadastre with the identification number of the property and date of titling, data on the landowner or the owner of building title and corresponding changes, data on subdivision and amalgamation of properties as well as restrictions on the land. Even other data can be exchanged. The data must be presented within 10 days from the registration.

According to the law, the Land Cadastre shall exchange data also with the local government. The registrar is obliged to provide the local government with data on changes regarding the cadastral units at least once every third month. The local government is obliged to inform the Cadastre about changes in land use, encumbrances and other decisions affecting cadastral data.

Cadastral data are public and the exchange of information with local government and title book office is free of charge. Everyone has the right to look at the data and get extracts of data of interest (for payment).

According to the Law on Land Valuation also the information on transactions needed for land valuation must be presented to the Land Cadastre.

Data exchange between the institutions involved in land administration requires a development of a unified and concurring information system. This work was started in Estonia within the framework of PHARE project already in 1994 in cooperation with the company Siemens-Nixdorf. At the first stage the information systems were designed for cadastral and title book offices, necessary hard- and software were procured. Currently, a further development of these systems is taking place as well as the unification work on both county and central levels.

International support

Without international support it would have been impossible to reorganise the land administration system and to develop land information systems within such a short period. Estonian resources were and still are too scarce for that. EU through its PHARE program, Sweden, Switzerland and some other countries have been of great assistance to us. They have supported us financially, helped to train our specialists, to procure hard- and software, to develop organisation and information systems. Several aid programs have been prolonged and the work is continuing even in the future.

And last but not least I have the great pleasure to thank FAO, which has helped to organise many interesting and useful activities. Currently FAO is funding the development of Long-term Strategy for Sustainable Development of the Agriculture Sector, which includes also the problems related to land reform and land administration.