LITHUANIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Evaldas Klimas and Vygintas Kuprys, WALLESS
2. Sale and Purchase 2.1 Categories of Property Rights The most common types of property rights are: • ownership; • lease (short and long-term lease of state land); • mortgage; 2.2 Laws Applicable to Transfer of Title The transfer of title is governed by the Lithu - anian Civil Code. There are no special laws that would apply to the transfer of any specific types of real estate (eg, residential, industrial, offices, retail, hotels). However, some laws (eg, the Law on Forests, the Law on Agricultural Land) pro - vide some restrictions regarding the transfer of ownership rights to specific types of land (agri - cultural or forest land). These restrictions relate to subjects that have a priority right to acquire land, to the amount of land that can be acquired, etc. Discussions are currently underway as to whether the limitations on the acquisition of agri - cultural land should be lifted. 2.3 Effecting Lawful and Proper Transfer of Title All real estate transactions related to disposal or restraint of disposal should be confirmed by the public notary. The ownership of real estate passes over from the moment it is handed over to the buyer. The handover of real estate is to be documented by a separate handover deed unless the parties agree that the sale and pur - chase agreement itself constitutes a handover deed of real estate, in which case the ownership of the real estate passes over from the moment the agreement is entered into. • servitude; and • usus fructus.
rights and duties of architects, designers and experts have been updated. Infrastructure fees have become more flexible and public information rules have become stricter. • On 1 January 2024, a revised Law on State Supervision of Territorial Planning and Con - struction came into force. It clarifies the scope of state land use inspections and grants officials the authority to oversee land use compliance. • Amendments to the Land Law also took effect on 1 January 2024. The amendments introduced new terms, modifying land lease agreements and expanding opportunities to lease state-owned land. • Additionally, refinements by the Territorial Planning Law to the planning process came into force on 1 January 2024. If planning conditions expire at the final approval stage, there is no need to renew or issue new condi - tions and the approving authority can validate the planning document. • Further amendments in construction and spatial planning regulation are expected as a Construction Code is in the pipeline. It will replace and simplify current construction and spatial planning regulation. • Tax reform is also under way including the introduction of a real estate tax which will apply to all residential real estate. • In view of geopolitical threats and in order to attract large investments, particularly in the defence sector, legislative changes have been adopted and are being initiated to simplify investments in large projects, particularly in the defence sector. These changes mainly include amendments to the regulation of land acquisition procedures and the application of exemptions from building regulation proce - dures.
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