Hokkaido Prefecture will be introducing support measures that will provide funding to local cities, towns and villages so that they may purchase tracts of land that foreign investors are planning to buy.

The measures are being introduced in response to growing concern over acquisition of forestry and water sources by foreign investors with unclear motives.

Foreign buyers of land in designated areas in Hokkaido will be obligated to provide three month’s notice of the purchase to the prefectural governor. If the purchase is deemed to pose a risk to natural water sources, the local city will be able to step in and purchase the land from the seller, causing the foreign buyer to miss out on the deal.

If the land is forest, 90% of the purchase price will be funded through the issuance of bonds by the government. Of the remaining 10%, Hokkaido Prefecture will provide half of the funds and the local city will bear just 5% of the total price.

If the land is zoned as fields or miscellaneous, the local city will receive up to a third of the purchase price from the prefecture, up to a maximum of 3 million Yen.

Even if a seller has not found a buyer for their land, they can inform the prefecture of their intent to sell and the local city may offer to purchase their land.

As other regions across Japan begin to introduce measures to protect forestry and water sources, Hokkaido’s support measures may become an example for other prefectures to follow.

Source: The Nikkei Shimbun, March 17, 2012.

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