Legal Alerts/19 May 2025

Proposal for the New Land Use Act

The Ministry of the Environment has circulated for comment a proposal for a new Land Use Act. Statements may be submitted until 11 July. The proposal would enact a new Land Use Act and amend other legislation.

The previous legislation dates back to 1999. Although the previous government aimed to reform the entire legislative framework, it was unable to reach political consensus on the land use component. Consequently, only the new Building Act was passed, which came into effect on 1 January 2025. The current government has drafted several amendments to the existing land use legislation, encapsulated in a bill for a new Land Use Act. Notably, the proposed changes concerning the construction of wind and solar power are significant. A political agreement on these aspects was reached during the budget framework negotiations earlier this spring. The proposal also introduces changes to planning processes. This legal alert provides an overview of the proposal's key points.

Key highlights regarding wind power

Under the proposal, unless the wind farm is located in an area specifically designated for wind power in the regional plan, wind turbines must be placed at a distance from inhabited areas of at least eight times the wind turbines’ total height. This distance requirement may be waived if the landowners and tenants of the area in question consent. According to the transitional provisions, the new legislation would apply to wind farms for which the master plan proposal has been publicly presented before the Act enters into force.

In the planning processes, a more detailed assessment of landscape impacts and the suitability of wind turbines for the environment is required. The goal is to avoid significant adverse landscape impacts, for which the evaluation appears to be highly case-specific, and to reduce noise and flicker nuisances.

Key highlights regarding solar power

Planning requirements for solar farms: The Construction Act would be amended so that a solar farm covering an area of at least ten hectares could no longer be built solely on the basis of a building permit. Therefore, solar farms exceeding this threshold would require either a local detailed plan or a master plan specifically guiding solar power construction. Smaller solar farms may also require planning if they are deemed likely to cause significant adverse environmental impacts. A provision concerning solar power local master plans, corresponding to the existing rules for wind power, would be added to the Land Use Act. Under such solar power local master plans, it would be required that construction not be placed in significant amounts on forested land nor on undrained, naturally occurring peatland areas.

Zoning processes to be streamlined

The role of the regional plan would be confined to questions of at least regional significance, whereby sub-regional and other smaller matters would be transferred to municipal planning. The legally binding effect of the regional plan would be relaxed. It could be diverged from for a justified reason when drawing up a local master plan. Some changes are proposed to the special provisions governing large retail units compared to the law currently in force. The proposal would remove the provision under which locating a regionally significant large retail unit outside an area designated for central functions in the regional plan requires that the area intended for the retail unit’s placement be specifically indicated for this purpose in the regional plan. The obligation to set the minimum size threshold for a regionally significant large retail unit in the regional plan would also be removed, and the regional plan would no longer need to indicate the maximum dimensions of large retail units located outside areas designated for central functions.

The proposal contains provisions on the joint consideration of a local master plan and a local detailed plan. It is proposed to shorten the maximum duration of the building prohibition imposed for the purpose of drawing up the plans. The content requirements would include preparedness for extreme weather events. The aim is to streamline both the planning procedure and the impact assessment. The proposal suggests that landowners would have the right to initiate the drawing up of a plan for their own area. The municipality could also entrust the drafting of the plan proposal to the landowner. The right of appeal regarding a decision on the approval of a local detailed plan would be limited to the parties directly concerned.

According to the proposal, a local detailed plan could, for a justified reason, be drawn up or amended in a manner that deviates from the guiding effect of the master plan if the master plan is outdated. The provision would be more flexible than the corresponding provision in the current law, as it would no longer require that the local detailed plan conform to the overall content of the master plan, nor that the master plan be evidently out of date.

The right of appeal in local detailed plan matters would be limited to the parties directly concerned. Previously, all municipal residents have had the right of appeal. However, the impact of this change will not be significant: associations would retain their right of appeal, so restricting the right to appeal is not considered significant from this perspective. The requirement for associations to appeal is that the association has submitted a statement in the matter. Any appeal concerning a local detailed plan considered to be of material societal importance – for instance, the operating conditions of businesses – must be handled by the administrative court as a priority over other planning and permit matters under this Act and under the Building Act.

The priority status in administrative courts for appeals concerning local detailed plans deemed significant for renewable energy production, as well as wind power master plans, would be extended under the Building Act until 2032, beyond the current end date of 2028, and would continue to take precedence over other planning and permit matters.

The governmental programme contains a policy point on that the Government will promote the possibility of processing of environmental permits, based on an approved zoning decision without waiting for it to become legally binding, this policy point has not been implemented in the proposal.

Financial losses in forestry that are more than minor, caused by conservation provisions in a regional plan, a local master plan, or a local detailed plan, would be compensated to the landowner out of municipal funds.

If you have any questions about how the proposal might impact your business or require assistance in compliance, please feel free to contact the undersigned or your regular Borenius contact.