Key information about the new landscaping rules

By Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus of May 16, 2025 No. 267, the Rules for the Improvement and Maintenance of Populated Areas have been amended. Corresponding changes have been made to the Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Belarus of November 28, 2012 No. 1087 "On Approval of the Rules for the Improvement and Maintenance of Populated Areas".

The resolution has been developed with the aim of uniting the efforts of the state, organizations of all forms of ownership, and citizens to establish order on the land, improve the environment, and form the aesthetics of populated areas throughout the country.

Thus, among the innovations regarding territories of individual construction and territories assigned to citizens and economic entities, the following have been established:

• obligations to maintain buildings, structures, utility buildings, and fences in technically sound condition, including painting, repair, replacement of deformed, damaged individual structures and elements, ensuring the stability and integrity of fences, and preventing deviation from the vertical by more than 10 degrees;
• obligations to keep construction materials on the land plot in a stacked condition;
• the need to mow lawns when the grass cover height exceeds 20 cm, to clean territories from construction and random debris, to remove dry vegetation at least twice a year, and to regulate the spread and number of Sosnowsky hogweed and other invasive plant species;
• removal of vegetation objects that are in improper, including emergency, condition.

The boundaries for planting vegetation (trees, shrubs) in relation to adjacent land plots have also been regulated:

• tall-growing (reaching a height of more than 3 meters in adulthood) – at least 3 meters;
• medium-growing (reaching a height of up to 3 meters in adulthood) – at least 2 meters;
• low-growing (reaching a height of up to 2 meters in adulthood) – at least 1 meter.

Within 1 meter of the boundary of an adjacent land plot, it is permitted to place lawns and plants no higher than 1 meter.

Regarding common use lands, the document provides for:

establishing the obligation to ensure timely snow removal from the territory within a distance of at least 1 meter from a parked vehicle – in the case of a vehicle parked on adjacent territories by citizens and legal entities.

The sizes (limits) of the corresponding territories, when involving citizens in work to maintain proper sanitary conditions, are established from the border of the land plot provided to the citizen (or owned by them) to the sidewalk (in its absence – to the border of the street or road carriageway), on the other sides of the land plot – no more than 10 meters or half the distance to the neighboring land plot, but not more than 10 meters.

For violation of the architectural design of a building or structure, namely, unauthorized reconstruction, repainting, or other alteration of balconies, loggias, and other structural elements of the facades of residential buildings, other buildings and structures, installation of satellite and other antennas on facades, balconies, loggias, roofs, as well as failure to take measures to maintain the proper appearance of residential buildings, other buildings, structures, and fences, administrative liability is provided in accordance with Art. 22.9 of the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Administrative Offenses, which entails a fine of two to fifteen base units.

For violation of the rules for landscaping and maintenance of populated areas, as well as failure to perform work to maintain proper sanitary conditions on common use lands of populated areas, including territories adjacent to land plots provided to citizens (or owned by them), administrative liability is provided in accordance with Art. 22.10 of the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Administrative Offenses, which entails a fine of up to twenty-five base units.