Government legislation ministry rules unpaid public land can be valued at past use

The government legislation ministry said that landowners may have their properties valued based on historical usage patterns when requesting a purchase from local authorities after long-delayed public projects fail to commence.

The ruling clarifies that the Act on the Acquisition of and Compensation for Land, etc. for Public Works applies to these specific purchase requests under the National Land Planning and Utilization Act. When calculating the price, authorities must consider how the property was utilized at the time it was originally incorporated into the public project plan rather than its current status. This approach prevents landowners from bearing losses caused by changes in land value or usage conditions resulting from the delayed public project designation.

The ministry stated that while the National Land Planning and Utilization Act mandates the application of compensation laws for purchase prices, it lacks specific calculation methods for these cases. Therefore, the evaluation method for 'unpaid land' defined in Article 25, Paragraph 1 of the Enforcement Rules of the Land Compensation Act is applicable. This rule specifically dictates that land previously designated for public works but left uncompensated should be assessed assuming its usage status at the time of original incorporation.

The purchase request system aims to compensate for property rights infringements occurring when urban planning facility projects do not proceed for extended periods after the initial decision. If general compensation standards were applied instead, valuing the land based on the date of agreement rather than its original designated use, owners would suffer disadvantages due to the altered value stemming from the long-term project delay.

The interpretation was issued in response to a civil petition seeking clarity on valuation methods for these unresolved land claims.