Don't worry: An unused Freehold Certificate will not be seized by the state

JAKARTA — Private land with a Freehold Certificate (SHM) that is unused is not included in the government’s abandoned land clearance programme. San Yuan Sirait, head of the Land Acquisition and Procurement Section at the Land Bank Agency (BBT), explained that abandoned land clearance typically targets land with certain rights, such as Hak Guna Usaha (HGU) and Hak Guna Bangunan (HGB) granted to corporate entities but not utilised for their intended purpose. ‘If there is already SHM, that is private ownership. It is not HGB. Private ownership is not part of the object of abandoned land clearance,’ San Yuan said after a BBT event in Jakarta on Friday (6 March 2026). He noted that public concern about the possibility of SHM land being taken by the state arose after some parties only skimmed the rules on abandoned land clearance. San Yuan added that there are certain conditions related to SHM land that could be taken by the state. For example, there are lands that formerly had SHM but whose ownership later became unclear, while settlements have developed on the land. ‘For example, there used to be ownership rights there, but now it has become a settlement and the owner is no longer clear. That land would be tidied up so that the residents who already live there can obtain rights,’ he said. According to San Yuan, in such cases the land can be reorganised and the communities occupying the area can be given ownership rights to the land. He also stressed that the utilisation of abandoned land is not limited to the BBT, but can also be achieved through other mechanisms by the government. ‘The authority to determine this to the BPN (Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency) and other state land reserves is, in fact, held by the Minister. It is purely an authority of the Minister (ATR/Head of BPN),’ San Yuan concluded.