Many people, along with apartments, have garden plots. Nowadays, for the efficient management of the activities of associations of amateur gardeners, they organize Horticultural non-profit partnerships.
The history of SNT. Deciphering the concept
Even in the distant twenties, at the dawn of the formation of the Soviet Union, the term "gardening partnership" appeared in the Civil Code.
Even then, such an association had the status of a legal entity acting as a land user. Its members paid utility bills, donated contributions for general construction. The plots were allocated small in area, not more than 6-8 hundred parts, the area of the house should not have occupied more than 15% of the allotment size.
The new Land Code of 1991 prohibited the use of any territory other than common lands for the organization of a garden partnership.
According to the prescription of the Federal Law “On Horticultural, Vegetable Gardening and Country Non-Profit Associations of Citizens”, issued in 1998, all previously existing associations were reorganized into a new form of legal entity - SNT, the abbreviation of which stands for “Gardening non-profit partnership”.
SNT Organization
A non-profit horticultural partnership is a legal entity formed to fulfill a number of goals to assist citizens in using their constitutional rights to gardening, to improve their garden or summer cottages. Territories for the organization of a horticultural non-profit partnership are allocated from the reserve of general purpose lands. As the main feature, we can distinguish that, based on the legislation of the Russian Federation, plots allocated from the lands of a special fund for gardening or gardening activities may later become the property of members of these garden associations.
Features of SNT as a legal entity
SNT is a legally responsible organization that has its obligations to government agencies.
At the moment, legislation relating to horticultural partnerships of a non-commercial nature is not sufficiently spelled out and given more likely to the hands of these associations themselves. Quite often, conflicts arise due to the different interpretations of certain regulations and charters. Therefore, members of the SNT, headed by the chairman, must themselves prescribe all the nuances of conducting their gardening activities, drawing up additional annexes to existing agreements and provisions.
A non-profit partnership, being a legal entity, enters into various agreements, for example, agreements on garbage removal from its territory or on the supply of electricity. Payment for such services is made from the total contributions of each member of the association.
In horticultural partnerships adhere to the principle of "one for all and all for one." If a member of SNT violated any laws, for example, threw garden garbage in the wrong place, then the whole partnership will pay the fine. At the same time, members of these communities are not responsible for the third-party obligations of SNT, and the horticultural association is not responsible for the promises of its participants.
Features of budgeting SNT
Based on the name of SNT, the decoding of which is presented above, it can be understood that this association does not have the right to engage in targeted commercial activities. And here the question arises: "Where do the funds come from for conducting his business?"
A horticultural partnership, as a form of non-profit association, acquires or creates common property owned by all its members for earmarked contributions. This property acts as the property of this partnership - a legal entity. The formation of a special fund occurs at the expense of entrance and membership fees, income from business activities and other funds that can be provided to this partnership from the budget of state and municipal bodies. The money goes to the goals set in general meetings and fixed in the charter of the partnership.
Procedure for holding SNT meetings
The rules for holding general meetings of SNT members are established in accordance with applicable laws, and they determine the competence of general fees, their types or types, list reasons for extraordinary convocation, form the agenda and ways to notify SNT members.
General meetings can be held in person when all members of the partnership are present in person, or in absentia, when decisions made by the board are communicated in writing or in another form. Every year, in person, discussions of estimates of income and expenses, and the election of a chairman or board members are held.
Any member of the SNT who officially owns the site on its territory can send as many representatives as necessary to the general meeting, but only himself or his representative can vote. An incompetent member of a partnership shall be represented by his notarized deputies.
Chairman of SNT
A horticultural non-profit partnership as a whole is a legal entity, therefore, to represent its interests before various structures, a person is selected from the rank and file of SNT members, who knows all the legal details and is ready to take all the trouble into organizing and regulating the life of a garden partnership free of charge. It's about the chairman. He is chosen by open vote during the general meeting of members of this horticultural association. Usually, the chairmen try to nominate an initiative and responsible person.
In the spring and summer, a lot of responsibilities fall on the chairman’s shoulders, taking him a lot of time, therefore, at the initiative of all gardeners of this partnership, he can be assigned a small salary. So to say, in the form of gratitude for the hard work. The chairman appears to be “between two fires”: on the one hand, it is necessary to ensure that all members of the association obey the general requirements and comply with the established procedure, and regulate conflicts between neighbors; on the other hand, at any moment he may be asked to report on the work done, the expenditure of general funds, and the legality of the decisions made. That is, the chairman is both the boss and the subordinate. If the actions of the head of the SNT do not suit its members, then the question of re-election is raised at a general vote.
Advantages of buying a land plot in a horticultural partnership
Despite some inconvenience associated with underdeveloped infrastructure, a land plot in SNT will bring many benefits. Its main advantage is that, in addition to directly carrying out horticultural activity on it to grow various crops, its owner has the right to erect a residential building on the territory of the site, which, subject to certain agreed norms, can be registered with the relevant authorities as a place of residence.
Another plus is that, unlike the construction of a capital structure on land with the permission of individual housing construction, in this case they do not require special permission for both the construction and commissioning of a residential building.
Many buyers today choose to purchase land in SNT. The Moscow region is very expensive in the acquisition of residential premises. Therefore, in this region, the share of unorganized cottage development in the territory of horticultural and non-profit partnerships accounts for up to 75% of the total country market.
Differences between cottages in SNT from the cottage village
The main difference between buildings in SNT and houses in a cottage village is the permitted category of land. For gardening partnerships, agricultural land is allocated , therefore the villages formed there are referred to the lower hierarchy. Although the cottage in SNT, as already mentioned, is a pretty good option for real estate.
In cottage villages located on lands with permitted use for individual housing construction, there are more stringent requirements in planning; when building a house, a more extensive package of documentation and approvals will be required. On the other hand, the development of all necessary infrastructure is guaranteed here, and also there are no problems with the availability of medical care, a postal address and a district police officer. Also, representatives of the law enforcement agency and the police cannot enter a house built in accordance with IZHS standards without proper permission, that is, it has immunity.
There are differences in the form of managing these settlements: in SNT, the working moments that arise are decided collectively, by universal suffrage. A plus is the relatively small assessed contributions. In the cottage village, management is provided to a company in which much more investment is required, but the range of services provided is much wider.
Residents of the village in SNT are more free to choose a project and materials for building a house, while in IZHS villages there are more stringent requirements for both development projects and resources.
Disadvantages of living in SNT
With all the pluses available, living on the territory of a garden partnership has some disadvantages:
- Undeveloped infrastructure: only electricity is mainly supplied to the villages, gas is rarely used. Often there are no good shops nearby, as well as kindergartens and schools.
- On the territory of garden associations rarely found good roads ;.
- Quite often there is no sewer network.
If SNT is old enough, then all roads and communications can be very worn out, and a strong initiative group is required to overcome the inertia of some members of the nonprofit partnership in resolving these issues.
Thus, when choosing between a cottage village in IZHS or SNT, the decoding of which is still based on the word "gardening", all the pros and cons of this association should be taken into account. Especially if it is intended to be used not only for gardening, but also for permanent residence.