Land regularization is a public policy of relevant social and economic interest directly related to sustainable urban development. Thus, the scope of regularization goes far beyond regularizing the plot to become a matter of improving housing and guaranteeing the constitutional rights to property and the city.
In this article you will understand what social interest land regularization is and its importance in supporting companies and public bodies in building a social and ethical approach to community processes in the areas to be regularized.
What is social interest land regularization?
To begin with, we can say that Land Regularization consists of the transformation of irregular plots into regular ones, through a process of articulated legal, urban planning and social actions that result in the residents obtaining the registration of their property issued by the Real Estate Registry Office.
The figures demonstrate the relevance of this issue. According to data from the Ministry of Regional Development, in 2019 half of Brazil's urban households were in an irregular situation with the Real Estate Registry Office. There are around 30 million properties without deeds in the country, an impressive number of citizens who have no security of tenure, also causing losses to public authorities.
This is also a social issue that deserves attention. In many cases, regularizing a property has the immediate capacity to improve life in the cities with a direct impact on each family. The value of a regular property is significantly higher and gives plot holders and their descendants greater legal security against evictions and forced removals, not only today, but in the future.
With regular documentation of the property, the citizen is strengthened vis-à-vis the financial system, being able to take out loans and credits using their property as collateral, and feels encouraged to invest in improving both their home and its surroundings, taking better care of their home and generating positive impacts on their city.
The new legislation
In 2017, Federal Law No. 13.465 was sanctioned, which constitutes the current legal framework for land regularization applicable throughout the national territory, regulating regularization actions in order to promote the integration of the nucleus into the formal city and the effective social function of property.
Legislative progress has been substantial, with the application of known instruments and new ones incorporated into the legal system creating greater opportunities for a section of the population that previously had no resources or legal support to deal with a land regularization process that can be complex.
The law maintained the multidisciplinary nature of regularization, and the distinction between land regularization of social interest and specific interest, calling them respectively Reurb-S, applicable to informal settlements occupied predominantly by low-income people, and Reurb-E of specific interest applicable to informal urban settlements occupied by people who do not qualify as Reurb-S.
With the new institute, the benefits to the stages of the process are undeniable, however, with the arrival of the pandemic with all its social consequences, it has caused a delay in the conclusion of the regularization actions underway, and, to begin with, but the expectation is that in the coming years we will have significant progress.
The land regularization process
From a practical point of view, there are many stages in the process. From the technical survey and assessment, document analysis and the preparation and approval of the project to the delivery of the titles, a number of activities are required, such as: surveying the area, mobilizing and meeting with residents, applying the socio-economic register with the collection of documentation, land research and other studies and surveys that need to be carried out according to the characteristics of each area.
The residents' documentation collected by the social team makes it possible to identify the owner, the legal relationship and the length of time they have been in possession of the plot. The initial stages of in-depth studies and legal analysis of the social data obtained from the registry and the documentation collected enable the technical team to define the strategies and instruments to be applied in registering the subdivision of the nucleus and the subsequent titling of the plots.
In addition to the technical stages, the regularization process also depends on negotiations with various players such as residents, the City Hall, the Land Registry Office and, in some cases, with licensing bodies and the Public Prosecutor's Office. As the deadline for responses from these actors is imponderable, and also depending on the degree of difficulty in reversing the irregularities present in the nucleus, the process can take time.
The positive impact
The construction of social housing, even when the public authorities have land available, involves complying with legal periods to enable tenders and contracting of projects and works that mean a considerable cost to the public coffers when compared to regularization policies.
In this way, managers prioritize land regularization actions because they are a faster, cheaper solution with immediate benefits for the population.
Examples of beneficial effects:
- Insertion of the nucleus into the formal city;
- Officialization of public places;
- Access to public services and infrastructure networks;
- Allocation of areas for public facilities;
- Registration of individual plots and economic impacts (property appreciation, boosting the local/surrounding economy, credit, real guarantee, etc.).
Regularization is also advantageous for governments. With the plots regularized, the public authority now has more information about its population in order to draw up inclusive social policies in conjunction with regularization actions aimed at the specific needs of the residents. This data helps to bring essential urban services to the neighborhoods, when necessary. In addition, residents of regularized properties contribute taxes and fees, in a virtuous cycle that benefits everyone.
Partnership in progress: Land Regularization Project in Pernambuco
As a social management consultancy, Diagonal also works with public authorities on land regularization projects, such as in Pernambuco, which has a large number of irregular homes. In 2022, the state government signed a contract with Diagonal for the Land Regularization of Social Interest - REURB-S of 30,000 housing units located in the metropolitan region of Recife. This work is underway and will transform the lives of residents of consolidated informal urban centers.
For 32 years, Diagonal has been providing advisory and execution services for urban, environmental, legal and social actions, products and services for the land regularization of precarious settlements, irregular allotments and housing developments - both public and private. Our technical team is on hand to support well-intentioned initiatives based on our expertise in land regularization.
