As Mr. István Nagy, Minister of Agriculture explained in September 2018, „the undivided joint ownership paralyses the Hungarian economy, and from a competitiveness point of view it is essential to be deleted”. The Hungarian agricultural land and forestry ownership conditions are not optimal, since the average plots are too small and they have many owners. This situation affects 3.5 million citizens and 1 million hectares.
For this reason, the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture decided to take a step and plans to cease the joint ownership where possible. The bill for the new regulation is currently under review by other ministries. According to the Minister of Agriculture, the proposed solution for the problem would be that the Hungarian State should act as a buyer, and if the owner of a smaller plot fails to respond or is not available, the State would acquire the property. At a later stage the State would also merge and re-sell the small properties, making the average plot sizes competitive. The new regulation is planned for adoption in fall 2018.
By Gabriella Galik, Partner, KCG Partners Law Firm