How many plots can be privatised free of charge in 2026: 6 categories, plot sizes and whether the right ‘lapses’

Every citizen of Ukraine is entitled to receive, free of charge, one plot in each of the six categories set out in Article 121 of the Land Code: for farming, for personal peasant farming (up to 2 ha), for horticulture (up to 0.12 ha), for building a house (up to 0.25/0.15/0.10 ha in a village/town/city), for holiday home construction (up to 0.10 ha) and for a garage (up to 0.01 ha). Land is transferred once for each type of use (Part 4 of Article 116 of the Land Code), so you cannot ‘top up’ to the maximum later. The right is not subject to any limitation period, but during martial law it can only be exercised under three exceptions.

The question ‘how much land am I entitled to from the state?’ has a precise answer in Article 121 of the Land Code, yet three myths have surrounded it for years: that you get a single entitlement for your whole life, that any shortfall in area can be ‘topped up’ later, and that an unused right will one day ‘lapse’. We will go through the rules, show you how to check whether you have already used your right, and explain what to do about it all under martial law restrictions.

If your goal is land under your own house, start with our article on the moratorium exemption for property owners: it is the only route that is fully operational right now.

Table: 6 categories and maximum areas

The right applies to each category separately: you can obtain 2 ha for personal peasant farming, 0.12 ha for a garden and a plot for a house — it is not a matter of ‘either/or’. Altogether, the theoretical maximum for a village resident exceeds 2.5 ha.

‘Once for each type of use’: where the law says so

The rule most often passed on second-hand is worth reading in the original. Part 4 of Article 116 of the Land Code states that land plots are transferred free of charge into the ownership of citizens, within the limits set by the Code, once for each type of use. In other words, the count is kept not by total area or by number of plots, but by the types of use listed in Article 121.

The rule has two relaxations written into Article 121 itself. First, the size of a personal peasant farming plot may be increased if the citizen has received a land share (pai) in kind, in which case the total area lawfully exceeds 2 ha (Part 2). Second, the size of a plot transferred free of charge in connection with acquiring ownership of a residential house may not be smaller than the maximum size for the relevant intended use, unless the plot under the house is itself smaller (Part 3). The latter is a practical argument against councils that offer a homeowner the option to ‘register only what is under the foundations’.

Article 119 of the Land Code provides a separate route for those who have used land for decades without documents: citizens who have used a plot in good faith, openly and continuously for fifteen years may apply for it to be transferred into their ownership, following the same procedure under Article 118 and within the limits of Article 121.

Key rules that nobody warns you about

• One category — once only. Used your personal peasant farming right to obtain 0.30 ha? That category is closed for good: you cannot ‘top up’ to 2 ha, even if you took far less than the maximum. So, where possible, apply for an area close to the limit.
• The right is personal and non-transferable. You cannot ‘give’ your unused category to your wife or children — each family member exercises their own right independently. For a family of three adults, that means three full sets of allowances.
• The right does not ‘lapse’ over time. The law sets no limitation period for the free privatisation of land. The risk lies elsewhere, in legislation: the rules may change, as has already happened with housing privatisation, the end of which was set by Law No. 4751-IX.
• No free transfer beyond the limit. Anything outside the scope of Article 121 has to be obtained through purchase or lease.

How to check whether you have already used your right

There is no single public ‘counter’, so the check involves several steps:

1. Order an information certificate on your rights from the State Register of Real Rights — it will show plots registered since 2013. An electronic certificate costs UAH 40.
2. Send a request to the State Geocadastre about plots registered earlier under paper state deeds. An extract from the State Land Cadastre on a land plot costs UAH 170 (0.05 of the subsistence minimum, rounded to UAH 10) and is issued on the day the application is registered.
3. Send requests to the councils in your former places of residence if you ever received land there. A lawyer’s request must be answered within five working days (Article 24 of the Law ‘On the Bar and Practice of Law’), while a citizen’s appeal can take up to 30 days.
4. Check the basis of acquisition in every document you find. A plot that was bought, gifted or inherited does not use up the right to free privatisation: only receiving land free of charge from the state or a local community for the same type of use does.
5. Draw up a list of open categories for each adult family member — this list determines what makes sense to register first.

What happens if you receive land in the same category twice

Checking the history of your plots is not a formality, and the Supreme Court’s case law shows clearly what a mistake can cost. In its resolution of 22 October 2025 in case No. 243/2721/22, the Civil Cassation Court considered a situation in which a woman obtained 2 ha for personal peasant farming even though she had already used her right in that category, and had submitted false information. She later sold the plot, and the new owner resold it.

The Supreme Court held that a citizen may use the right to receive a plot of a given type free of charge only once, and that land which left the state’s possession against its will on the basis of an unlawful decision may be recovered from the last acquirer under Part 1 of Article 388 of the Civil Code. A change of the first and subsequent acquirers does not alter how the time limit for recovery is calculated. In other words, the risk falls not only on the person who received land twice, but also on a good-faith buyer who acquired the plot several transactions later.

What happens to this right under martial law

The free transfer of state and communal land into private ownership is prohibited, as is granting permission to develop land management documentation for that purpose and the development of such documentation itself (subparagraph 5 of paragraph 27 of Section X of the Land Code). So you cannot simply ‘turn up and claim 2 ha for personal peasant farming’ at the moment. The ban does not apply to three categories:

• owners of real estate located on the plot — buildings and structures;
• former owners of real estate destroyed as a result of armed aggression, whose ownership has been terminated because the property was destroyed (exception added by Law No. 4625-IX of 08.10.2025);
• citizens of Ukraine, in respect of plots granted to them for use before the Land Code came into force, i.e. before 1 January 2002.

If you started the procedure before the ban, it is important to see it through to registration of the plot in the cadastre: according to the Supreme Court’s position in case No. 386/987/19, an application alone does not create a place in the queue — priority goes to a plot that has already been formed. For details, see our article on the priority of plot formation.

Common mistakes

• Taking 6 sotky (0.06 ha) of personal peasant farming land ‘while they are still handing it out’ and closing off your 2 ha category. Choose the area deliberately: there will be no second chance.
• Confusing horticulture with holiday home construction. These are different categories with different limits, and a mistake in the intended use stated in the application costs months.
• Treating a purchased plot as a ‘used right’. The right is used up only by receiving land free of charge from the state or a local community.
• Registering everything in the name of one family member. Spreading applications across adult family members multiplies the total area.
• Ignoring old paperwork from the 1990s. A state deed for a ‘lost’ plot means the category has already been used, and this tends to surface at the worst possible moment — sometimes in court, in a claim brought by a prosecutor.

When you do not need an advocate

You can work out your entitlements using the table and submit an application yourself. An advocate becomes necessary when the history of your plots has to be reconstructed from archives, when the council refuses or fails to respond, when others are competing for the land you want, and when you are completing a procedure started before the ban.

Questions and answers

How much land in total can I get from the state free of charge?

One plot in each of the six categories of Article 121 of the Land Code: a land share for farming, up to 2 ha for personal peasant farming, up to 0.12 ha for horticulture, up to 0.25/0.15/0.10 ha for a house, up to 0.10 ha for a holiday home and up to 0.01 ha for a garage. The categories are cumulative.

I received 0.50 ha for personal peasant farming. Can I top it up by another 1.5 ha to reach the maximum?

No. Under Part 4 of Article 116 of the Land Code, land is transferred once for each type of use, regardless of the area received. That is why the area stated in the application should be as close to the limit as possible.

Does the right to privatisation lapse if I do not use it?

There is no limitation period, so the right is retained. But the rules do change: free housing privatisation is already being brought to an end by Law No. 4751-IX, so putting off the exercise of your land right for decades is risky.

Does a plot I bought or inherited use up my right?

No. The right to free privatisation is used up only by receiving land of the relevant type of use free of charge from the state or a local community. Land that was bought, gifted or inherited does not count.

Can my wife get her own 2 ha if I have already used mine?

Yes. The right is personal: every adult citizen has their own set of allowances across all six categories.

What happens if I conceal that I have received land before?

The transfer decision will be declared unlawful and the plot recovered — according to Supreme Court case law, even from the last acquirer who bought it several transactions later (case No. 243/2721/22). Checking a plot’s history therefore protects buyers too.

How can I find out whether I used the right back in the 1990s?

A certificate from the Register of Real Rights (UAH 40 in electronic form), a request to the State Geocadastre about old state deeds, and requests to councils in your former places of residence. An advocate’s request speeds things up: the reply comes within five working days.

Can I apply for a vacant plot now?

Under martial law, not only the transfer itself but also granting permission to develop documentation for that purpose is prohibited, so the application will not be considered. The exceptions are the three categories in subparagraph 5 of paragraph 27 of Section X of the Land Code, the most common being land under your own registered property.

I have been farming a plot without documents for 15 years. Can I register it?

Yes. Article 119 of the Land Code provides for acquiring ownership through long-term use: using a plot in good faith, openly and continuously for fifteen years entitles you to apply for its transfer into ownership under the procedure of Article 118 and within the limits of Article 121.

Are combatants entitled to separate plots of land?

Combatants have a priority right to the allocation of plots within the same limits of Article 121 of the Land Code — this is priority in the queue, not additional land. Under martial law, this right is also subject to restrictions.

Sources

• Land Code of Ukraine, Articles 116, 118, 119, 121, subparagraph 5 of paragraph 27 of Section X — zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2768-14
• Civil Code of Ukraine, Article 388 — zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/435-15
• Resolution of the Civil Cassation Court within the Supreme Court of 22.10.2025 in case No. 243/2721/22 (as summarised in the review of Supreme Court case law on land disputes for the second half of 2025) — unba.org.ua
• Law of Ukraine No. 4625-IX of 08.10.2025 (exception for owners of destroyed property) — zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/4625-20
• Law of Ukraine ‘On the Status of War Veterans and Guarantees of Their Social Protection’, Articles 12–14 — zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/3551-12
• Law of Ukraine ‘On the State Land Cadastre’ — zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/3613-17

Land rights audit with ‘Svarog’

Tell us which plots you or your family have received in the past — we will check the registers and archives to see which categories are still open, calculate your family’s total potential and prepare the application so that you do not lose a single sotka of your allowance. Related services: privatisation of a land plot, privatisation of land under a house, land law advocate, full price list.

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