LH to Purchase 50 Billion Won Worth of Land for Housing...Pushes for Public Reserve Land Acquisition

Public Reserve Land Purchase Applications Open from September 8
Contract Signing Scheduled for February Next Year After Price Negotiations
50 Billion Won Worth of Land to Be Used for Housing Supply Sites

The government has announced plans to purchase land owned by the state, corporations, and individuals in an effort to address the housing supply shortage in the Seoul metropolitan area. The purchase scale is set at 50 billion won, and the acquired land will be used for housing development sites.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) stated that, starting on September 8, they will begin inviting applications for the purchase of ‘public reserve land for supply and demand adjustment’ as a follow-up measure to the August 13 policy package.

The Asia Business Daily DB

‘Public reserve land for supply and demand adjustment’ refers to land that LH acquires preemptively under the Act on Reserve of Public Land, with the aim of stabilizing the land market. This is the first time the government is purchasing such public reserve land for supply and demand adjustment purposes.

The government's plan is to purchase high-quality land within urban areas that is suitable for residential development and utilize it as housing supply sites. Eligible land must be at least 3,300 square meters in size as of the application date and must be suitable for the construction of multi-unit housing within the Seoul metropolitan area (Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon). Land with existing buildings, land encumbered with mortgage or seizure, as well as farmland and forestland with acquisition or usage restrictions, are excluded.

Applications for the sale of land will be accepted over a one-month period starting September 29. Candidates will be selected based on a review of their suitability for public development projects and the appropriateness of public land reserve.

The purchase price will be determined in consultation with the landowner, within the average of appraisal values assessed by two appraisal firms designated by LH. The target is to provide eligibility notification in December, negotiate prices in January of next year, and conclude contracts in February of the same year.

Those wishing to apply for the sale may visit one of LH's four metropolitan area branches in person or submit the required documents online between September 29 and October 28. LH will also provide tailored pre-consulting services for institutions and companies holding idle land.

Shin Yun-Geun, Director of Land Policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated, “Through this public land reserve initiative for supply and demand adjustment, we will make every effort to ensure that the secured land in the metropolitan area is swiftly utilized for urban housing supply. As this is the first pilot project implementing a public land reserve system for housing supply, we will collect a wide range of feedback and continue to improve the system.”

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