The uses of land are endless. In the past, the main purposes were building houses, farming, and growing trees, but now there are countless uses.

And although land is the same real estate, unlike apartments or commercial buildings, it goes through different development procedures depending on its purpose.

Normally, in order to develop a project, a financial plan and a business plan must be established, and then a common procedure must be followed, starting with site selection, securing the target business site and access road, conducting a detailed design survey, and obtaining relevant legal permits from government offices.

And all of this is stipulated in advance by related laws and regulations, etc. Therefore, when carrying out this series of procedures, business operators and individuals who wish to develop must understand the complex and difficult construction laws related to land and buildings in advance and take appropriate measures accordingly.

Let's take a brief look at five general pre-inspection items that are absolutely necessary when developing land.

1. Site selection = Generally, the most important thing is where to place the business site. If it is a logistics warehouse, it should be in the metropolitan area or adjacent to the metropolitan area. If it is a distribution center, it should have a large parking lot and easy access from the road. The location will vary depending on the business, purpose, budget, etc.

Generally, the selection of the site is based on the administrative districts of cities, counties, and regions, and about three candidate sites are planned. Then, when the target site is identified, the area and road conditions are examined. In the case of roads, accessibility is the priority, and then the presence or absence of an access road is checked. An access road is a very important variable in relation to permits and costs.

And the administrative district of the purchase site is very important. If it is a land transaction permit area such as the metropolitan area, it determines whether the land transaction permit will be issued and under whose name the land will be purchased. Development-related taxes and burden reductions or heavy burdens are also closely related to the location.

2. Land use and land status = It is important to know the land use of the target land. If it is farmland, you should first check what area and district it is under the Farmland Act, and if it is forest, you should first check what type it belongs to under the Mountain Management Act. You can find out this by looking at the land register, land map, and land use plan confirmation. In the case of forests, you should look at the forest register and forest map.

If the target land is not permitted to be developed (exclusively used) as part of my business under the Agricultural Land Act or the Mountain Management Act, I should no longer have any attachment to that land.

Next, you should visit the site and examine the actual land shape, geology, slope, direction, usage status, and surrounding environment. Also check the status of electricity, water, and sewage connections. In particular, for forests, you should carefully look at the slope of the mountain, the types of trees, and the degree of lushness. You should also be sure to pay attention to whether or not there is a restriction on adjacent development.

3. Use area and region = It is basic to check whether the target land is included in the urban area, management area, agricultural and forestry area, or natural environment conservation area in terms of use area. For urban areas, you must also check whether it is included in the residential, commercial, industrial, or green area area.

The classification of these use areas is stipulated in the National Land Planning Act, or more precisely, the National Land Planning and Management Act. Currently, all land in the country is designated as one of these four use areas.

The reason why the use zone is important is because the actions that can be done, that is, the development actions that can be built and facilities, are all determined in advance according to the use zone. Also, because the building coverage ratio and floor area ratio are different depending on the use zone, you can check the area of the building that can be built on the land in advance. In addition, in the metropolitan area, you must check which zone the target site belongs to among the over-congestion control zone, growth management zone, and nature conservation zone.

4. Development project related construction laws and regulations and public notices = Development projects are regulated by different basic laws depending on their purpose and the scale and type of facilities. However, these related laws often span multiple areas, not just one. The same goes for the national administrative agency or local government department in charge.

5. Development direction and ordinance of local government = Land development is directly affected by the development policy and regulatory direction of the state or local government. If you want to enter a certain area and do a development project, you need to look closely at the development policy of the metropolitan or autonomous city, county, or district that has jurisdiction over the area. You can check the development policy through the website of the local government or the official in charge of the relevant department.

And you should definitely look up the local government ordinance. Even if the permit-related laws clearly state that it is possible, many local governments actually prohibit or restrict the development through ordinances. It is also worth noting that the National Land Planning Act delegates a large portion of individual regulations to ordinances.

Shin Hee-seong, CEO of Remax Korea 

Original link: http://www.newsway.co.kr/view.php?tp=1&ud=2014123009082761893