Characteristics of Idle Land to Be Expropriated by the State

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Land that has previously been granted rights by the state but is not utilised in accordance with its designated purpose can be classified as idle and potentially taken over by the state through an enforcement process. Head of the Land Acquisition and Procurement for the Land Bank Agency (BBT) San Yuan Sirait explained that idle land generally refers to land that has had rights attached to it, such as Hak Guna Usaha (HGU) or Hak Guna Bangunan (HGB), but is not used for the purpose for which the rights were granted. ‘Idle land is land that has previously had rights attached to it, for example HGU or HGB. If there has never been any land rights, that is not called idle land,’ San Yuan said at a BBT event in Jakarta, Friday (6/3/2026). He explained that the government through the Ministry of Agrarian and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN) conducts evaluations of land that has been granted rights to legal entities or other rights holders. In the process, the government will assess whether the land is used in accordance with the permissions granted or not. The evaluation stages also include administrative checks and on-site verification. If the evaluation results show that the land is not being utilised, the rights holder is first asked to immediately use the land in accordance with its designation. ‘After the evaluation, rights holders are asked to utilise their land. If it is not utilised, a warning is issued,’ added San Yuan. Warnings are issued in three successive stages. Each warning has a set timeframe so that the rights holder can utilise their land. ‘The first warning is 14 days, the second warning 14 days, and the third warning also 14 days,’ he said. San Yuan added that in the evaluation process the government also looks at whether the rights holder has a clear plan for utilising the land. ‘If they have already shown a master plan or development plan, it is generally not followed up as idle land,’ he added. However, if the verification results show that the land is not being utilised and the rights holder does not have a clear plan for use, then the land may be designated as idle land.