At present, many owners of property destroyed as a result of hostilities face two major problems (within the urban planning sphere): the absence of documentation (ownership rights) for land plots and the impossibility of obtaining a building passport for the construction of a new object in place of the one that was destroyed, in cases where urban planning documentation is lacking.
📌 The draft law aims to resolve the first issue on Amendments to certain legislative acts of Ukraine concerning the protection of land rights of the owners of real property destroyed as a result of hostilities (registration No. 13174 dated April 15, 2025). The purpose of the draft law is to protect the rights and interests of the owners of real property destroyed as a result of hostilities.
The draft law proposes, in particular:
- ⭕️ To allow the gratuitous transfer of land plots into private ownership to the former owners (or their heirs) of real property (buildings, structures) located on such land plots and destroyed as a result of hostilities, terrorist acts, or sabotage caused by the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, where ownership was terminated in accordance with the data of the State Register of Real Property Rights due to the destruction of the property;
- ⭕️ To establish that the transfer of land plots of state or communal ownership for use by citizens of Ukraine, who are former owners of buildings and structures destroyed as a result of hostilities and located on such land plots, or their heirs, is carried out without land auctions;
- To enshrine in the Land Code of Ukraine the priority of international treaties, ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, over national regulatory acts in the field of land relations;
- To allow the change of designated purpose of land plots of state or communal ownership under existing buildings of diplomatic missions without adhering to the functional zoning of land within the category of residential and public buildings;
- To provide the possibility of exemption from land rent for diplomatic missions if this is provided for by international treaties ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine;
- To grant the Ministry of Environmental Protection the authority to approve the methodology for determining the amount of damage caused by pollution and littering of land resources due to violations of environmental legislation.
On July 9, 2025, the members of the Committee on agrarian and land policy recommended that the Verkhovna Rada adopt the draft law in the second reading and in full.
Necessity of the Proposed Legislation
Under the Law of Ukraine “On compensation for damage and destruction of certain categories of real property as a result of hostilities, terrorist acts, or sabotage caused by the armed aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine”, compensation is paid to the owners of destroyed property. This law also establishes the State register of property damaged and destroyed as a result of hostilities, terrorist acts, or sabotage caused by the armed aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine. Paragraph 20 of Article 8 of the Law states that “the ownership right of the recipient of compensation for the destroyed real property is terminated due to its destruction. State registration of the termination of such a right is carried out in accordance with the law”.
At the same time, there are cases where the ownership or use rights to the land plot where the destroyed building or structure was located are not registered in the name of the compensation recipient.
Paragraph 2 of Part 2 of Article 134 of the Land Code of Ukraine provides that the transfer of land plots of state or communal ownership, on which a real property object (building, structure) owned by individuals or legal entities is located, is carried out without land auctions.
Subparagraph 5 of Paragraph 27, Section X “Transitional Provisions” of the Land Code of Ukraine establishes that during martial law, the gratuitous transfer of state or communal land plots into private ownership is prohibited, except in cases where such land plots are transferred free of charge to the owners of real property (buildings, structures) located on them.
Therefore, in cases where the ownership of a destroyed building or structure located on a land plot of state or communal ownership (not transferred for use to the owner of the destroyed real property) is terminated by state registration, the person cannot actually obtain this land plot for lease or ownership.
Additionally, due to the termination of ownership rights to the destroyed real property, the person loses the right to acquire the land plot without complying with the requirements of paragraph 1, part 3 of Article 20 of the Land Code of Ukraine. As a result, the transfer of ownership or use of the land plot to the owner of the destroyed object must be preceded by the development or amendment of urban planning documentation.
In my opinion, resolving these problems is truly important, and I hope that the aforementioned draft law will be adopted.
📌 At the same time, the second problem remains unresolved — the impossibility of obtaining a building passport in cases where urban planning documentation is absent.
This issue arises in many localities across Ukraine, and unfortunately, local urban planning and architecture authorities are practically powerless in this matter. The only option they can suggest to owners of land plots where real property destroyed due to hostilities was previously located is to apply for a Development intention scheme for the land plot.
In many cases, this may help resolve the issue, but unlike the building passport, the Development intention scheme is not free of charge, since it is prepared by an architect or certified design engineer under a service agreement and is usually a paid service.
Chief architects of settlements lacking urban planning documentation understand that a residential or garden house once stood on that land plot and was destroyed as a result of hostilities, and that the person intends to rebuild it. Therefore, such individuals apply for a building passport, but under current legislation, the architectural authorities must deny the request if urban planning documentation is absent.
⭕️ Additionally, even when urban planning documentation is developed and approved, there are frequent cases where the land plot size does not meet the minimum standards set by the current building regulations, or where it is physically impossible to place a new house due to non-compliance with fire safety distances, etc.
Ukraine is at war, and to address the consequences arising directly from the war, there is a need to further regulate the issuance of building passports in cases where private houses were destroyed due to hostilities.
In my view, and the view of some representatives of urban planning and architecture authorities, it is necessary to regulate the issuance of building passports for land plots where real property objects destroyed due to hostilities were previously located, even in the absence of urban planning documentation. For example, provided that the placement of the new object complies with current building regulations, or in cases where this is not possible, a reasonable condition could be the placement of the planned house within the foundation footprint of the destroyed house.
I hope that this issue will also be resolved at the legislative level.
The draft law and the problems described above are open for discussion in the Urban Planning in Ukraine group.
Yuriy Brykaylo, attorney
Ⓒ 2025
