Abandoned garden plots will be offered for sale at auctions

The director of the Lithuanian Association of Horticultural Associations says that when selling such plots, the priority right to acquire them should be given to the owners of the adjacent lands or to the members of the association.

The advisor to the Minister of Agriculture, Giedrė Pupšytė, told the Seimas Rural Affairs Committee this week that he would propose to amend several laws and allow the sale of these plots at auctions.

“There would be an opportunity for those parcels that were delivered by various controls, where the owners do not appear until now, and are abandoned, then sell those parcels at auction. This mechanism will take effect and will reduce the number of abandoned plots in gardener associations, ”said a representative of the ministry.

Juozas Ravinis, president of the Lithuanian Association of Gardeners Associations, believes that the problem of abandoned garden plots is only relevant in the districts, because the garden plots closest to the main cities are actively urbanized.

“The closer to the city, the less (abandoned orchards – BNS), practically none. Or if it is abandoned, it has owners, owners. There may be plots of this type on the periphery ”, said the director of the association, BNS.

According to him, the demand for garden plots has increased as people move to live there. However, far from cities where there is no infrastructure, the demand for abandoned and homeless plots is low, he said.

J. Ravinis emphasized that if abandoned parcels were sold at auctions, the right of priority to acquire them should be given to neighboring landowners, neighbors, and community members.

According to data from the National Land Service, there are about 5,000. amateur gardens, 3,000. private farm and some 500 plots of land for construction but not privatized. The latter are mostly abandoned, their owners do not pay land tax.