Surveying, division, and sectioning

The division of property is a measure that requires an application under the Planning and Building Act. If a permit is granted for the division of property, a survey must be carried out to establish the new property boundaries on the ground. This is carried out by a surveyor.

Who can apply?
Anyone who is registered as the owner of the property can give the project owner consent to divide the property.

98.75% of the land on Svalbard is owned by the State and is administered by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries. Contact the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries' local office in Longyearbyen for consent to divide property.

Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries
PO Box 69, 9171 Longyearbyen
postmottak@nfd.dep.no
Telephone: 91 69 40 40

More information here: Land management in Svalbard External link.

How to apply
To apply for the division of property, also known as subdivision/creation of new land property, or leasehold (also applies to leasehold points/land lease points), you must complete all the forms below:

Application for permission to carry out measures without liability (5153) External link, opens in new window.
Requisition of surveying and registration for measures requiring an application External link, opens in new window. Please note that the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries must be listed as the "requester," and that you therefore need their signature and stamp.
Information provided in the neighbor notification (5155) External link, opens in new window.. Must be submitted to the Longyearbyen local government together with the application.
Receipt for neighbor notification (5156) External link, opens in new window.. If the neighbors have comments, these must be sent directly to you as the applicant so that you can comment on them before everything is submitted to the Longyearbyen local government.

Attachments to the application:
A site map showing the property boundaries of the new property or the boundaries of the plot shown in the area plan (generally the ground reference point) must be attached. It is desirable that the new property boundaries are coordinated in EUREF89 UTM coordinates. The site map must be to scale.
The site map must show access, water and drainage, if applicable, and that the new property is located outside the danger zone.

The application can be sent to:
Longyearbyen Local Council, PO Box 350, 9171 Longyearbyen or post@lokalstyre.no

You can read more about sectioning and resectioning on the Norwegian Mapping Authority's website here External link..

Subdivision
If a property is to be owned by several people, and the owners are to have separate rights to their respective use of the building and, where applicable, exclusive rights to use the outdoor area on the property, the property must be subdivided.

Resection
If a co-ownership association wishes to change the distribution of space or make other changes to the use of the property after it has been sectioned, you must apply for resection.

How to apply:
Application for division External link, opens in new window.
- Instructions for completing the application for division External link, opens in new window.

Application for resectioning External link, opens in new window.
- Instructions for completing the resectioning application External link, opens in new window.

Attachments to be submitted with the application:

• Floor plans of all floors with boundaries for each section. The use of each room must be clearly shown on the drawings.
• A site plan and articles of association must always be enclosed.
• If the application form is signed on behalf of the owner, a power of attorney will be required, and if there is a mortgage on the property, consent may be required.
• Contact information (name, telephone number, email, and address).
• Consent to sectioning from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries as the owner must be enclosed, as the Land Lease Act does not apply to Svalbard and the properties are leased through a ground lease agreement.  

The price for subdivision can be found in the current fee regulations here. 

If there are several owners of a property prior to subdivision, and they wish to divide the sections between themselves, the division can be entered under point 4 in the application form.

Adjustments to property boundaries can be made by boundary adjustment or land transfer, depending, among other things, on the size of the area in question.

Regardless of the type of case, a survey must be carried out to clarify and measure the new boundaries. The results of the survey are entered into the cadastre, which is the official property register in Norway.
See more information on the Norwegian Mapping Authority's website about boundary adjustments, land transfers, and changes to fixed boundaries External link..

Boundary adjustment
A boundary adjustment is a minor change to the boundary between two properties. Boundary adjustments do not normally require an application, as long as the adjustment does not conflict with other legislation and overarching plans. A boundary adjustment does not need to be registered.

Certain conditions apply to boundary adjustments.

• The area of the properties involved may not be increased/reduced by more than 5%, and by a maximum of 500 m2.
• A property may not relinquish an area that in total exceeds 20% of the property's area prior to the adjustment.
• For construction properties, the volume may not be increased/reduced by more than 5%, and by a maximum of 1000 m3.
• The value of the property cannot be increased/decreased by more than 1G (G = basic amount in the National Insurance Scheme).

For more detailed rules relating to boundary adjustments, see Section 34 of the Cadastral Regulations External link. and Section 16 of the Cadastral Act. External link.

To request a boundary adjustment, you can use the application form from the Norwegian Mapping Authority: Request for surveying and cadastral registration External link. - Please note that the request form must be signed by both parties involved.
A site map with marked property boundaries showing the adjustment before and after, as well as an area overview, must also be attached.

Area
transfer An area transfer is a major adjustment of the boundary between two properties. Area transfers are subject to application. The area is transferred between adjacent properties without the area being established as a new property.

For rules relating to area transfer, see the Cadastral Regulations § 33 External link. and the Cadastral Act § 15 External link..

The application form for land transfer is the same as for the division of property - see the tab for "division of property."
The site map must show existing property boundaries, as well as new property boundaries (preferably determined by coordinates), and the land overview must be clearly presented. You can use the map service of the Land Registry to extract the site map yourself – see our public map at this link External link.

In order to register a land transfer, a declaration of land transfer External link. must also be completed by the owners and submitted together with the registration of the land transfer – the latter is submitted by LL.

Change of leasehold
If the land transfer involves a leasehold, the land can be transferred by means of a "change of leasehold."

Land can be transferred in the following cases:

• between real estate and leasehold land.
• between two properties registered with leasehold numbers, which have a common boundary and are leased from the same land property.
• conversion from leasehold point/land point to leasehold land with area and fixed boundary. 

A declaration of change of leasehold External link. must be completed and submitted with registration of the change.
 

If you are unsure about the existing boundary between two properties, you can request a survey to clarify the existing boundary.

The application form can be found here:
Request for a land survey and registration in the land register External link.

Attachment to the request:
Site map showing the property boundary to be clarified. You can use the LL map service to extract a site map yourself – see our public map at this link External link.

Current prices can be found in the fee schedule here.

The procedure is the same as for "Division of property" - see the tab further up on this page.

For cases outside the Longyearbyen area plan area, the Governor of Svalbard External link. handles the applications.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries is the landowner and must give its consent for the establishment of fixed points/landmarks.
Contact information:
Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries
PO Box 69, 9171 Longyearbyen
postmottak@nfd.dep.no
Telephone: +47 91 69 40 40

Or their website for land management in Svalbard External link.

Are you planning to relocate your cabin from, for example, an avalanche hazard zone, and need a new foundation? See the procedure
below:

1. First, you must enter into dialogue with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries (NFD) as the landowner to secure a new plot of land on which new property can be established.

2. Submit an application for the creation of a new property, in this case a new property boundary. The application form and attachments can be found in the "Property division" tab further up the page. The application will be processed by the building department. The processing time is three weeks.

3. Once permission has been granted to create a new property, the case will proceed to surveying, where a surveying company will be called in to mark out the new property. The deadline for completing the surveying process is 16 weeks from the date on which the notice of surveying was sent out.

4. After the surveying process is complete and the new property boundary has been established, the property is registered. To secure your ownership of the property, a property agreement must be registered with the NFD.

5. In cases where there is a "minor" relocation of the ground lease point within the same farm and usage number, the ground lease point can be moved so that you retain the cadastral number (gnr/bnr/fnr) and the land register page for the property. If this is not applicable, a new land lease point will be created with a new cadastral number and land register page.

6. Once the new property is in place, an application can be submitted to "move" the cabin itself. See more about this on the building permit pages.

By merging several properties into one property, you get a more transparent structure for the property.

Read more about merging properties on the Norwegian Mapping Authority's website. External link.

Certain requirements must be met in order for properties to be merged:
- The properties must be located in the same municipality
- The properties must have the same owners
- The merger must meet the requirements of Section 18 of External link. the Cadastre Act External link. and Section 43 of the Cadastre External link.
Regulations External link. - The merger must not lead to a conflict of priority between mortgagees

Form for requesting the merger of properties External link.

It is free of charge to merge properties. The case is concluded when a new cadastral letter is sent out.