The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a draft amendment to the Urban Renewal Act (都市更新條例) that would establish a mandatory hearing process and dispute settlement mechanism for contentious reconstruction proposals, while authorizing the government to demolish holdout houses.
There are 8.5 million houses in the nation, nearly 4 million of which are more than 30 years old and might not provide the required earthquake resistance, Premier William Lai (賴清德) said.
“It is therefore necessary to speed up urban renewal to ensure building safety and living quality,” he said.
Photo: CNA
The amendment would establish a three-stage review process to settle reconstruction disputes and allow local governments to demolish properties at the heart of controversial reconstruction proposals to expedite the renewal process.
To prevent property hoarding and speculation, urban renewal projects would have to be submitted to the local government’s urban renewal review committee to determine whether it fits within the city’s overall urban development plan.
A mandatory hearing would be required for any renewal project that fails to obtain the consent of all homeowners involved, after which the review committee would decide on the project based on its necessity and feasibility.
Homeowners would be allowed to seek legal relief should they refuse to have their house included in an approved project.
Local governments would then be able to demolish holdout houses, but they would be required to negotiate with homeowners about the date and the method of demolition, as well as relocation plans.
The amendment also stipulates a more transparent process to award extra floor space in renewal projects as incentive for homeowners.
A renewal project could be awarded an up to 50 percent increase from the original floor space, which could be increased to 100 percent if the project is a large government-led project of more than 10,000m2.
The current mechanism, through which local governments decide how much extra floor space should be awarded, has caused uncertainty for homeowners and developers, slowing urban renewal, the Ministry of the Interior said, adding that the new incentive measure is expected to eliminate such uncertainty.
To encourage urban renewal, the proposed amendment would also include a maximum of 12 years of property tax deductions for reconstructed homes and a 40 percent land value increment tax deduction for participants of renewal projects.
Land developers involved in government-led urban renewal projects would be given a four-year business income tax break.
While a restriction in the Banking Act (銀行法) caps the amount of loans a bank can extend for construction projects at 30 percent of its total loans, the amendment would exempt lenders from the restriction when financing urban renewal projects.
The amendment would also require local governments to offer housing or a subsidy to underprivileged homeowners included in urban renewal projects.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
The China Coast Guard has seized control of a disputed reef near a major Philippine military outpost in the South China Sea, Beijing’s state media said, adding to longstanding territorial tensions with Manila. Beijing claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea and has waved away competing assertions from other countries as well as an international ruling that its position has no legal basis. China and the Philippines have engaged in months of confrontations in the contested waters, and Manila is taking part in sweeping joint military drills with the US which Beijing has slammed as destabilizing. The Chinese coast guard
RSS