Case of 33 Million Won Compensation Increase for Land Including 'Roads' During Redevelopment Cash Liquidation Draws Attention

When a person gives up their status as a union member and applies for cash liquidation within a redevelopment project area, the land in question undergoes land expropriation procedures for public works. In this case, if a portion of the owned land is being used as a passage for nearby residents, caution is required as the value of that land may be undervalued during the compensation calculation process.

According to a video from City and People: Lee Seung-tae's Law of Living, redevelopment unions or expropriation committees often calculate and reduce compensation on the grounds that a portion of the land is being used as a road. This is because redevelopment, like public works such as the construction of railways or bridges, involves procedures where the state or a union forcibly expropriates land. The key issue here is that the compensation ratio varies greatly depending on whether the land is a 'road under the Private Road Act' or a 'de facto road.'

Roads under the Private Road Act vs. De Facto Roads: The Criteria Determining Compensation

In the video, lawyer Lee Seung-tae explained in detail the criteria by which compensation is determined based on the nature of the road. First, a 'road under the Private Road Act' refers to a road installed with the permission of the competent authority in accordance with Article 4 of the Private Road Act. Even if it is privately owned land, if it has been designated as a road through the procedures of the Private Road Act, the compensation is limited to within 1/5 (20%) of the appraised value of the adjacent land.

On the other hand, a 'de facto road' refers to a state where permission for opening the road has not been obtained from the authority. This includes cases where the landowner opened a passage for their own convenience or where the state has become such that the owner cannot arbitrarily restrict the passage of others. In this case, the compensation is determined at a level of about 1/3 of the appraised value of the adjacent land. The video explained that compensation can be set low in cases where the landowner is deemed to have waived their 'exclusive right to use and profit' by allowing others to use their land.

33 Million Won Increase Through Administrative Litigation... The Key is Whether it is a 'Road under the Private Road Act'

In an actual case, a redevelopment union considered a specific piece of land to be a passage used by an unspecified number of people, judged it as a road under the Private Road Act, and calculated the compensation at 1/5 the value of the adjacent land. The land in question was a passage used by several houses in an alley in front of the residences, so the landowner filed an administrative lawsuit after going through a ruling by the Land Expropriation Committee. If an agreement is not reached during the expropriation process, it goes through a ruling by the Local Land Expropriation Committee, and if there is an objection to that, an application for an objection ruling is made to the Central Land Tribunal, which then leads to administrative litigation.

The main issue of the lawsuit was whether the land was a road under the Private Road Act. The court rejected the claim, judging that it was unfair to view it as a 'road under the Private Road Act' based on the fact that there was no evidence to prove permission for opening from the authority. Although the compensation was limited to 1/3 as the land was recognized as a de facto road, as a result of actively contesting the incorrectly evaluated appraisal amounts during the litigation process, the owner was able to receive an increase of approximately 33 million won compared to the ruling amount from the Central Land Tribunal.

Caution Required Regarding Subtle Differences Between Roads under the Building Act and De Facto Roads

Lawyer Lee Seung-tae emphasized that while roads under the Building Act and de facto roads may look similar, there is a legal difference between them. A road under the Building Act refers to a road created to satisfy the obligation to be adjacent to a road required to obtain a building permit, and these are often classified as de facto roads. In other words, a road created in the process of fulfilling the obligation to be adjacent to a road of at least 4m in width so that a site does not become landlocked when building a house becomes a de facto road.

Therefore, those subject to cash liquidation in redevelopment must closely examine how their land was classified as a road and how the compensation was calculated. This is because the compensation standards can vary greatly from 1/5 to 1/3 depending on the legal nature of the road. The video advised that clearly recognizing these differences in the nature of roads and preparing for litigation, etc., will be helpful.