Cambodia: A new measure for land sales and development projects

Cambodian property insiders have welcomed a new measure that reinforces the government’s requirement that all commercial land sales and development projects must be registered with the proper authorities. The Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction announced on Tuesday that all land development activities must be approved by the authorities in advance. The ministry said the current trend of selling off parcels of land or subdividing it, is inefficient and often conducted without approval.

The measure reinforces a previous directive signed by the minister on May 11 that was aimed at promoting proper land management and ensuring the sustainability, balance and efficiency of land development and urban planning.

The parkas mandated that any land development project bigger than 30,000 sq m must have a permit from the ministry, while projects smaller or equal to the figure must receive a permission letter from the city or provincial authorities. Projects of less than 5,000 sq m must have the approval of the town or district authorities. The move comes as the practice of selling off subdivided parcels of land is booming across Cambodia.

The proper registration will protect customers from fraud but owners and customers hope that seeking permission from the government doesn’t cost a lot or take a long time. The ministry’s secretary of state, Pen Sophal, said the measure would help mitigate many negative factors that have emerged as the property market has boomed. He warned that legal action will be taken against any landowner who split up plots of land to sell without proper permission or those who cheat customers in unregistered land deals.

Source: The Phnom Penh Post