Abstract
This paper assesses the local governments' administrative practices associated with vacant houses in urban areas. A nationwide survey was conducted in October 2017 to gather information from local governments and municipalities on the procedures related to land and housing with unidentified owners, for which there was a response rate of 60.7%. Urban municipalities were found to have identified a greater number of ownerless estates than rural areas because of the availability of resident reports and the conduct of vacant house surveys. One of the main problems found was the heavy administrative work associated with searching for estate owners. It is suggested that there should be better cooperation between departments and related agencies to develop more reasonable procedures and conduct searches using external vacant property experts.
