EXCLUSIVE: Japan to Promote Sale of Govt-Managed Inherited Land

Tokyo, Feb. 26 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Finance Ministry plans to simplify procedures for selling land plots inherited and later transferred to the central government, informed sources told Jiji Press on Thursday. The move aims to promote the sale of state-managed inherited land and facilitate its effective use in local communities amid a rise in such properties and growing management burdens. The ministry will present the draft plan at a meeting of a subcommittee of the Fiscal System Council, which advises the finance minister, on Friday. Amid growing demand from those who inherited land but wish to relinquish it due to burdens such as management costs and taxes, the government enacted the law allowing inherited land to be transferred to the state in April 2023. If certain conditions are met, such as the absence of structures on the land and no disputes over ownership rights, owners can transfer ownership of the land to the state by paying a land management fee equivalent to 10 years’ worth of costs, which in principle totals 200,000 yen. The law aims to prevent land whose owner has become unknown and which has subsequently deteriorated from causing adverse effects on neighbors or public works projects, including redevelopment programs. More than 2,300 land plots were transferred to the government under the law as of the end of last year. Those mainly intended for housing are managed by the Finance Ministry, while farmland and forests are overseen by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Some 1,400 lots managed by the Finance Ministry have never been sold because of their poor condition, imposing maintenance and management burdens on local finance bureaus across the country. Against this background, properties with a planned sale price of 1 million yen or less will be eligible for disposal through discretionary contracts instead of competitive bidding. To promote the sale of such plots, 10 councils on land policy, comprising finance, agriculture and regional development bureaus, will identify land use needs and strengthen information dissemination through private real estate websites. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]