President's Office has published amendments to the regulations on the lease of non-residential land plots that gives local councils the power to renew and extend agreements regarding the lease of land plots owned by the state.
The power to renew and extend state-owned land lease agreements were previously held by the Ministry of National Planning, Housing, and Infrastructure. The amendments give city, atoll, and island councils the power to lease non-residential land plots in their jurisdiction in accordance with the land-use plan.
Additionally, the amendments require councils to make an assessment based on requests to extend land lease agreements and allow the councils to extend the agreement to no more than half of the original lease period. The councils also have the power to change the conditions of the agreement based on the current market rate.
The government has provided more administrative power to local councils as part of its decentralisation policy.