Intrång i och reglering av äganderätten till mark : En metod och en studie av markåtkomstregler i Sverige

Abstract

Private property rights are a central and important institution in the society. These rights are a prerequisite for individuals to have incentives to invest in their properties, be able to trade with each other, economic growth and more. In some situations, private land ownership may have to be put aside for society to function adequately; since society needs to build housing, infrastructure and other frameworks to use the land according/suitable to society’s needs. In addition to society's need for land for facilities, we also find the need to retain natural resources and similar values that entail their demands for land access.

Ownership of real property differs from ownership of other normal goods. Land has some special properties that other normal goods often lack. Land is stationary in such a way that you cannot move land with you. This immobility then also means that the land is site-specific. These characteristics are one explanation to the fact that land use often has many laws and regulations to comply with.

In Swedish law the possibility for both private and public actors to use land access has a long history. For a long time, real property owners in Sweden have had to carry the burden of being affected by land access. The possibilities in law to use land access have varied throughout history, with a common denominator that over time more purposes have become possible to implement with the use of compulsory land access laws.

In Swedish law the possibility for both private and public actors to use land access has a long history. You can say that real property owners in Sweden for a long time have had to carry the burden of being affected by land access. The possibilities in law to use land access have varied throughout history, with a common denominator that over time more purposes have become possible to implement with the use of compulsory land access laws.

There is an inherent conflict between private property rights and the society's need to sometimes restrict private property rights to real property. The dissertation aims to investigate and analyse how to enable land access in the most efficient way. How should the system for land access be designed to be efficient while not damaging real property ownership rights? How does the possibility of land access affect economic efficiency in the society? Is the land access system in Swedish law alongside the associated compensation system, a mutually coherent and efficient system?

In order to achieve this purpose, the dissertation constructs a framework, based on economic theory and rights theories ascertaining whether a land access system is economically efficient. Four basic questions, as well as two sub-questions, construct the foundation of this approach:

(i) Should land access be possible?
(i.i) When should it be possible?
(i.ii) Who should be able to resort land access?
(ii) Should compensation be paid?
(iii) How large should the compensation be?
(iv) Who should pay the compensation?

The conclusion of the constructed approach is that:
1. For efficient use of land, land access must be a possibility. In order for land access to take place, the legal system must contain rules that limit land access measures to situations that create a positive net benefit. Due to this requirement, the question of which actor can carry out land access with the support of compulsory law is less important.
2. Compensation shall be paid in situations where land access does not affect a large number of individuals, where each individual damage is small. Compensation should also not be paid in situations where land access takes place to prevent, or stop, illegal activities.
3. The compensation shall be based on a market value and be higher than the estimated market value or market value reduction that the procedure of land access causes.
4. The party who applies land access is also the party who is to bear the costs of paying compensation.

In this dissertation, I apply the framework I constructed to the Swedish system for land access with its associated compensation system. In order to achieve this, I first investigated how Swedish law is formulated today and how it has historically developed in terms of land access, property rights and compensation systems. The initial studies are carried out using legal dogmatic and legal historical methods.

When applying the approach, the historical review shows that the Swedish land access system has not historically been efficient. The main reason for this is that the compensation for land access has been both too high and too low. Too high in the sense that society could not evolve efficiently and too low because real property owners suffered a loss of utility due to the compensation being below market value. Also, land access in the form of a restriction of usage was not something that entailed a direct right to compensation according to law until an amendment was made to the Constitution of Sweden in 1994. The reform of the compensation system in 2010, when an amendment to the Expropriation Act Chapter 4 Section 1 was added meaning that a surcharge of 25 % shall be paid for eligible land access, made the system more efficient.

It also turns out that the bundle of property rights, i.e. which partial rights this bundle has included and allowed, varies with the right to compensation. During the time when the bundle of rights consisted of the largest number of sub-rights with the greatest powers, the compensation system was also the most generous. Over time, the property owner's great powers meant problems for the development of society, it was for example problematic to deal with the increased urbanization as land value levels forced cities to develop less suitable land for housing. The ownership of land was therefore subject to reforms of various kinds, such as reduced powers for the property owner. The reforms were implemented to make it easier to develop society and disrupt the strong position of the real property owners. At the same time as the powers of the real property owners decreased, the compensation system also became less generous. At its lowest point which remained for a period of time, the compensation could be below market value.

The conclusions from applying my framework to Swedish law are that today, on an overall level, it is an efficient and coherent system. With regard to land access measures in the form of restrictions on the availability of buildings of culturally and historically valuable buildings, there is some support that these can be handled in a more efficient way by market mechanisms. One aspect not to forget in an alternative procedure is the difference in the consistency between government decisions and a market solution. Allowing market mechanisms to preserve cultural-historical values is probably less lasting than government decisions. In the long run, it is therefore uncertain whether the ''protection'' of the market solution will last to the same degree as an official decision. Future studies could empirically examine what the total cost of land access measures in order to preserve cultural-historical buildings is. Are the costs of such a magnitude that there are opportunities for streamlining conservation that seem to consider any disadvantages associated with durability.

I also argue that a lack of compensation for land access measures in the form of revoked permits for businesses, where the decision to withdraw is based on conditions that the operator could not foresee and a continued business is not manifestly harmful, are not effective. It can for example be new research results that show that previous activities are more environmentally hazardous than previously known.

Abstract (Swedish)

När bör det vara möjligt att genomföra markåtkomst och hur bör ett sådant system regleras rättsligt? Det är en av de frågor som avhandlingen besvarar.

Markåtkomst handlar om vilka möjligheter en aktör har för att inskränka äganderätten till mark. Äganderätt generellt är viktig i samhället, den är nödvändig för att individer ska kunna handla med varandra och en fungerande marknadsekonomi. Mark har speciella egenskaper som skiljer sig mot andra saker man kan äga bl.a. att mark är platsberoende. Dessa egenskaper är en förklaring till varför markanvändning berörs av många olika lagar. I Sverige behöver man t.ex. tillstånd för att få bebygga, schakta eller riva, eller för att få dela upp sitt markinnehav.

Äganderätt till mark är av central vikt för samhället. Det finns dock en slags konflikt mellan den privata äganderätten och behovet av att kunna inskränka denna för att tillgodose samhällets behov av mark för t.ex. infrastruktur. Ett markåtkomstsystem måste beakta flera viktiga aspekter och samtidigt skapa en effektiv markanvändning.
I avhandlingen undersöker författaren hur ett markåtkomstsystem bör vara utformat med hänsyn till samhällseffektiviteten. För att utreda hur ett markåtkomstsystem kan hantera beskriven konflikt konstruerar författaren en metod. Metoden består av teorier och modeller hämtade från det nationalekonomiska och rättsliga vetenskapsområdet. Metoden appliceras på svenska markåtkomstregler för att utreda om dessa är samhällsekonomiskt effektiva samt går att härleda från rättsliga och ekonomiska principer.

Med hjälp av metoden kommer författaren fram till följande slutsatser för hur ett markåtkomstsystem bör se ut: 1. Markåtkomst måste vara möjligt att tillämpa. Dock enbart för sådana åtgärder där en positiv nettonytta uppstår. 2. Ersättning ska utgå vid markåtkomståt- gärder utom i fall där antalet berörda är många och vardera skada är liten. Ersättning ska inte utgå när markåtkomst sker för att hindra olaglig verksamhet. 3. Ersättningen ska vara högre än fastighetens marknadsvärde eller bedömda marknadsvärdeminskning. Om inte ersättningen är högre än dessa belopp kommer fastighetsägaren lida en nyttoförlust som sammantaget innebär en effektivitetsförlust i samhället. 4. Den aktör som nyttjar markåtkomst ska svara för kostnaderna för ersättningen.

För att tillämpa metoden på svensk rätt undersöker författaren hur man kan förstå och analysera äganderätt och dess historik i Sverige. Dels hur lagstiftaren tidigare har hanterat äganderätt till mark, dels vad vid varje tids gällande ersättningssystem säger om synen på äganderätt. Den historiska genomgången visar att under den tid äganderätten innebar störst befogenheter var även ersättningen som störst. När lagstiftaren senare inskränkt befogenheter och fastighetsägarnas handlingsfrihet har ersättningarna samtidigt blivit lägre.

Resultatet är att svenska regler är på ett övergripande plan effektiva. En bidragande orsak är den lagändring som skedde 2010 då ett påslag om 25 % tillkom på ersättningarna. Dock bör ett påslag även ske på skador som beror på det som sker på den ianspråktagna marken för att än mer effektivisera ersättningsreglerna.
Metoden kan i framtiden bl.a. användas av andra aktörer för att utvärdera huruvida en planerad åtgärd bör genomföras med stöd av tvingande lag, eller om det är mer effektivt hanterat genom avtal. Metoden kan också fungera som utgångspunkt i en analys mellan olika länders markåtkomstregler.

• author: Norén, Eric
• supervisor: Åsa Hansson; Malin Sjöstrand; Ingemar Bengtsson
• opponent: Associate Prof. Åslund, Åsa, University of Linköping, Sweden.
• organization: Real Estate Science
• alternative title: Land access and regulation of land ownership : A method and a study of the land access system in Sweden
• publishing date: 2023
• type: Thesis
• publication status: published
• subject: Civil Engineering
• keywords: fastighet, markåtkomst, effektivitet, äganderätt, tvång
• volume: 1
• edition: 1
• pages: 260 pages
• defense location: Lecture Hall E:1406, building E, Ole Römers väg 3, Faculty of Engineering LTH, Lund University, Lund.
• defense date: 2023-03-10 09:00:00
• ISSN: 1652-4810
• ISBN: 978-91-8039-440-6
• ISBN: 978-91-8039-439-0
• project: Intrång i och reglering av äganderätten till mark - En metod och en studie av markåtkomstregler i Sverige
• language: Swedish
• LU publication?: yes
• id: 913df64d-53ad-4a57-b034-178e7b7e8622
• date added to LUP: 2022-01-11 09:06:40
• date last changed: 2023-09-06 10:14:57