When registering lease agreements, the National Land Survey of Finland (NLS) has noticed that information about a road is only given in the lease, and the road is not established through a private road survey. If a wind power company and landowner agree in the land lease agreement that a road is established through a private road survey, information about it will also be entered in the cadastral register and pass on to the next owner. 

– We have received project lease agreements for registration that define rights to use roads without agreeing upon the road right through a private road survey, in which case the road right is not available for the authorities or other road users in the cadastral register, says Mauri Asmundela, Director of Expropriation and Valuation at the NLS.

The NLS has developed its instructions with the renewable energy permit guidance services of the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY Centre) to provide wind power companies and landowners with better recommendations and instructions. The ELY Centre’s permit guidance services provide general information about permits.

Agree upon road rights through a private road survey

The NLS looks at this issue through the eyes of a registrar. For this purpose, it would like to have information related to land use and landownership available to all in registers as clearly as possible. With minor tweaks in practices, wind power companies and landowners will not need to give any later clarifications.

From this point of view, wind power companies and landowners should enter the clause “the road right will be verified through a private road survey” in their lease agreements. During a private road survey, the NLS enters the agreed matters in the cadastral register: where the road which the wind power company can use to transport large machinery to its area is located?

Currently, lease agreements in which the parties agree upon the right to use a road are practically only received regarding projects. Lease agreements are only entered in the title and mortgage register, as a result of which information about rights to use roads is not entered in the cadastral register, in which it would be available to the next landowner, other landowners with building projects in the area or municipalities that prepare local plans.

The ELY Centre provides wind power contractors with national help through the wind power and renewable energy permit guidance services. The website and manual of renewable energy permit guidance services include information about permit processes and responsible authorities related to wind power projects.

Further information

National Land Survey of Finland
Mauri Asmundela, Director, +358 40 576 8944, firstname.lastname@nls.fi

ELY Centre’s renewable energy permit guidance services
Mari Hakola, Team Lead, +358 29 502 7654, firstname.lastname@ely-keskus.fi