What is social land concession & how to obtain it legally?

• 3 December 2021
• Property Focus
• 5706 Views

Since 2008, at least 30,000 hectares of land have been provided to more than 50,000 poor families across the kingdom with the social land concession policy known as the Land Allocation for Social and Economic Development (LASED).

What is a social land concession? Who are eligible to obtain the free land? And what are the requirements?

According to Sub-Decree No.19 dated 19 March 2003, social land concessions are legal mechanisms to transfer state land to the poor citizens who are lack farming land and decent housing.

The social land concession has been done in many forms, yet the renowned one in Cambodia is the LASED, which is the cooperation between the World Bank and the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction. The project has a total of three phases, two of which have been completed, while the last one is ongoing. (Read more)

According to the Sub-Decree, the social land concession provided for housing purposes has a maximum land size of up to 1,200 sqm for urban areas and 3,600 sqm for rural areas. In some urban areas, social land concessions for housing are provided in the form of co-ownership.

Meanwhile, the social land concession for agricultural purposes has a maximum land plot size of up 2 to 5ha depending on the nature of the land, land potentials, the type of crop to be grown on, and the recipient’s skills and conditions.

Sub-Decree No.19 states that land recipients must meet the qualification as follow:

• A family/individual holding Khmer nationality and must be a poor family, or family affected by public infrastructure projects and natural disasters, or families of disabled veterans
• A family/individual with more than two members living together
• A family/individual who meets the financial criteria set by the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation
• Those who are not the owners or possessors of other lands that are equal in size to or exceed the size of the social land concession

In addition, citizens who passed the qualification check and become the recipient of social land concessions must sign an agreement with the competent authority to confirm their rights and responsibilities.

After signing the agreement, the recipient must build a permanent house within 3 months, and the family member must live there for at least 6 months per year.

On the other hand, the recipient of agricultural land must do farming on the land for 12 months and continue to use that land in accordance with the agreement.

After properly behaving for 5 years, the land recipients will have the full right to own the land and can apply for the title deed.

• land development and policy