Gyeonggi Province Re-designates Land Transaction Permitted Areas in Forestland of 21 Cities and Counties to Prevent Speculative Real Estate Development

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hoon Reporter] Gyeonggi Province has re-designated 120㎢ of forestland in 21 cities and counties, including Siheung, as land transaction permitted areas as a rational measure to prevent speculative real estate development.

According to the province on the 29th, it recently held an urban planning committee review and deliberated and approved a plan to re-designate 120㎢ of forestland set to expire on July 3 as land transaction permitted areas for one year from July 4 to July 3, 2023.

Previously, the province designated 211㎢ of forestland in 21 cities and counties including Siheung and a redevelopment and reconstruction project area (0.7㎢) in Deokyang-gu, Goyang as land transaction permitted areas for two years in June 2020 to prevent speculative real estate development and address concerns about speculative transactions related to urban renewal projects.

Among these, 91㎢ of forestland where the respective mayors and county chiefs requested deregulation citing no speculative concerns, and the redevelopment and reconstruction project area in Deokyang-gu, Goyang (0.7㎢) where property rights were hindered, will be deregulated from the permitted areas as of July 4.

The remaining forestland of 21 cities and counties including Siheung (120㎢) has been decided for a one-year extension in consideration of ongoing speculative activities through planned real estate development.

Following designation of the land transaction permitted area, transactions involving land exceeding a certain area (100㎡ in forestland) require a permit from the relevant mayor or county chief.

Those who execute contracts without permission or obtain permission through fraudulent means are subject to imprisonment of up to two years or a fine equivalent to 30% of the land price based on individual publicly announced land prices at the time of contract execution.

A provincial official stated, "Through the 'planned real estate real-time monitoring system' completed this month, we will observe transaction trends in all forestland throughout the province and actively respond to speculative real estate development by conducting detailed investigations into suspected transactions."

Detailed information on the land transaction permitted area re-designation and deregulation decided this time can be found in the notices on the Gyeonggi Province website.