Restriction on Owners from 1 Year Prior to Public Notice for Transferor Land Supply Consultation

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Announces Legislation to Eradicate Speculation in Housing Site Districts
Includes Ban on Resale Until Ownership Transfer Registration of Supplied Housing Sites

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] In the future, when land is expropriated for national projects, the supply of negotiated transfer land as compensation to the original owners will be limited to those who owned the land at least one year before the public inspection announcement date. The previously allowed exception of resale will also be prohibited. Relocation land supplied during the public interest project process will not be provided to residents who have not lived there for at least one year before the announcement date. These measures aim to eradicate land speculation on new housing sites.

On the 26th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced a legislative notice for amendments to the Enforcement Decree and Enforcement Rules of the “Special Act on Public Housing” and the Enforcement Decree of the “Act on Acquisition and Compensation of Land for Public Projects,” based on these contents.

This is part of the government’s “Measures to Eradicate Real Estate Speculation and Prevent Recurrence,” announced in March to prevent short-term land investments aimed at compensation from developing new towns and other new housing sites, triggered by the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) land speculation scandal.

To facilitate smooth land expropriation, the government provides negotiated transfer land or relocation land for a fee to residents or landowners who actively participate in expropriation negotiations. Relocation land is land provided to original residents who have built houses and lived on the land, while negotiated transfer land is given to landowners holding a certain scale of land, such as 1,000㎡ or more in the metropolitan area, regardless of actual residence.

According to the amendment, negotiated transfer land will be supplied only to those who owned the land at least one year before the public inspection announcement. Previously, the Enforcement Decree allowed supply to those who owned the land before the announcement date, enabling those who purchased land just before the public inspection announcement to receive negotiated transfer land. This has led to suspicions that LH employees made early investments in new towns such as the Siheung-Uiwang district targeting negotiated transfer land.

Additionally, priority will be given to landowners who have owned the land for at least five years as of the inspection date and before the designation of the development restriction zone. In cases of competition among the same priority group, the supply target will be decided by lottery, with priority given to landowners who have resided in the relevant city, county, or district for at least one year (as of the public inspection date). Those involved in public housing work such as Ministry of Land or LH employees, or those punished for using undisclosed information, will not be eligible to receive negotiated transfer land. Furthermore, resale is prohibited until ownership registration is completed.

However, for the 3rd phase new towns and others where public inspection announcements were made before last year, compensation is already underway and guidance has been provided from the negotiation stage before compensation. Therefore, the strengthened regulations will apply only to public housing districts where compensation plans are announced after January next year.

For relocation land supplied under the Land Compensation Act during public interest projects, it will not be provided unless the resident has continuously lived there from at least one year before the announcement date until the land contract date or expropriation decision date. Instead, relocation settlement funds will be paid. Relocation land will not be supplied not only to current public interest project workers such as LH employees but also to former employees within 10 years after retirement.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.