Ma promises land reform program

Ma said his administration will soon seek to revise the laws allowing land owners to receive higher prices in government acquisitions of their properties.

Currently such acquisitions are based on prices set by the government, which are usually much lower than the properties' market values.

But Ma told a press conference that future acquisitions will be based on market values.

His land reform also calls for local governments to step up efforts preventing developers from “stockpiling” land.

Ma noted that the government already resumed a tax on undeveloped plots in January this year, and he asked local governments to quickly identify all taxable idle land in order to stop speculative real estate transactions.

The government earlier this year implemented a luxury tax on transactions of housing units that change hands within a short period of time.

The government has also promised to stop releasing national land to the property market.

In the past, many developers have been able to buy government-owned plots at relatively low prices with intentions to resell them at higher prices later when their market values rise.

Such “stockpiling” is a target of the government's idle land tax.

The president said local governments have to identify all undeveloped plots as soon as possible and demand their owners develop them within a deadline.

If they fail to meet the deadline, they will have to pay a tax two to fives times the regular land tax, or sell the properties to the government, Ma said.

For government acquisitions of private land, Ma said local governments will be required to update the market values of target properties every six months, which will be invoked to determine the sums the land owners will receive.

Ma said such measures, which will be included in the Cabinet's draft revisions to the land law, are aimed at a fairer system protecting the rights of property owners.

Premier Wu Den-yih said properties in the process of being acquired by the government will not be affected by the proposed changes to the pricing system.

But the government's offers to these land owners are already higher than the regular prices, he added.

Meanwhile, the Taipei City Government said it will make a full list of all vacant plots within its boundaries in eight months. It estimated that the idle land in the city totals more than 40,000 plots with a total area of 600 hectares.

New Taipei City said it has already identified all taxable undeveloped plots and will start imposing taxes on them once the central government kicks off the campaign.

Taxable plots in New Taipei City total 536, which would contribute NT$328 million to NT$819 million if their owners have to pay the extra taxes, the city administration said.

But the city said not all idle land will be taxed. Prime targets will be those in areas where housing demand is high, while land in remote areas where there is little demand will be exempted.

Observers also urged the government to make clearer definitions of idle land.

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