Bought a house: The Supreme Court clarified what will happen to the land plot

Acquiring ownership rights to a real estate object (a residential house, except for an apartment building) automatically entails the transfer of rights to the land plot on which it is located, in the scope and under the conditions established for the previous owner, proportionally to the share in the ownership of the real estate (Article 120 of the Land Code of Ukraine, Article 377 of the Civil Code of Ukraine). This conclusion was made by the Supreme Court in the composition of the panel of judges of the Second Judicial Chamber of the Cassation Civil Court.

On May 20, 2026, the Cassation Civil Court of the Supreme Court considered in simplified proceedings the cassation appeal of PERSON_1 in the case filed by Person_1 against Person_2, Person_3, third parties: the Main Department of the State Geocadastre in Rivne region, Person_4, regarding the cancellation of state registration of land plots in the state land cadastre, cancellation of state registration of private ownership rights, and recognition of joint ownership rights to the land plot.

In support of the claims, the plaintiff argued that after acquiring an apartment in a two-apartment residential house in 2004, he became a co-owner of the land plot on which the house is located, together with the other co-owner, under the conditions defined by the legislation on the transfer of land rights in case of acquiring ownership rights to real estate. The plaintiff indicated that the previous owner of the second apartment, despite the termination of his rights to the land plot, without the plaintiff's knowledge agreed to divide the common land plot into two separate plots, which were registered to different persons.

According to the plaintiff, the disputed object should be considered as a single object of joint use by the co-owners of the two-apartment house, and therefore the land plot under it is joint ownership and should not be divided in kind between the co-owners. Furthermore, the plaintiff noted that the approved division plan does not correspond to the actual long-term order of land use, and the subsequent alienation of parts of the plot to third parties occurred taking into account what he considered an unfair division.

The court of first instance, whose conclusions were agreed upon by the appellate court, denied the claim, reasoning that the plaintiff chose an improper method of protection since the property was already registered to other persons, and the plaintiff should have filed a vindicatory claim for recovery of property, within which the good faith of the acquirers would be examined.

The Supreme Court changed the reasoning parts of the decisions of the lower courts but upheld the conclusion to deny the claim, stating the following.

A two-apartment residential house is not an apartment building within the meaning of the Law of Ukraine "On the peculiarities of exercising ownership rights in an apartment building," since an apartment building is considered a residential building with three or more apartments.

According to Article 377 of the Civil Code of Ukraine and Article 120 of the Land Code of Ukraine, in case of acquiring ownership rights to a residential house, its part, building, or structure, the right to the land plot or its corresponding part passes to the acquirer. These norms reflect the principle of unity of the legal fate of the land plot and the real estate object located on it.

The lower courts did not take into account that the plaintiff, as a participant in joint partial ownership of the real estate object, acquired the right to the land plot proportionally to his share in the joint ownership of the said real estate object.

When acquiring ownership of a share in a residential house (or another real estate object), a person acquires the right to the land plot proportionally to their share in the joint ownership right to such an object. This transfer of rights is imperative and does not require a separate transaction regarding the land plot.

An effective way to protect such legal relations is precisely the recognition of the right to the land plot (or its share) proportionally to the share in the ownership right to the residential house (Articles 377 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, 120 of the Land Code of Ukraine).

The lower courts correctly denied the claim but erred in their reasoning by considering vindication as the proper method of protection.

More details and the text of the Supreme Court ruling dated May 20, 2026, in case No. 557/1746/24 (proceeding No. 61-681sv26) can be found at this link. 

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