Taiwan Dangerous Old Building Rebuild Act: Bonuses & Sunset

Under the Statute for Expediting Reconstruction of Urban Dangerous and Old Buildings (《都市危險及老舊建築物加速重建條例》, known as the Dangerous and Old Buildings Act 危老條例), the early-bird "time-based FAR bonus" (時程獎勵) officially dropped to 0% on May 12, 2025 (民國 114 年 5 月 12 日); current reconstruction applications must rely on the "scale bonus" (規模獎勵, starting at a site area of 200 m²) combined with seismic, green building, smart building, and setback bonuses to reach the maximum 1.3x base floor area ratio (or 1.15x original building floor area ratio), and Article 5 of the current Act sets the application deadline at May 31, 2027 (民國 116 年 5 月 31 日). Because the Act imposes no minimum site area but requires 100% consent from all land and legal building owners within the project boundary, small sites under 200 m² face both reduced floor area bonuses and high unit construction costs now that the time bonus is zero. Based on statutory texts in the National Laws and Regulations Database verified on 2026-11-07, this article summarizes eligibility, FAR bonus formulas, tax breaks, and small-site alternatives.

3 core thresholds for dangerous-and-old reconstruction and the "May 31, 2027" application deadline

The Statute for Expediting Reconstruction of Urban Dangerous and Old Buildings moves faster than standard urban renewal because it bypasses lengthy urban renewal business plan and rights-transformation hearings, allowing the building authority to review a "reconstruction plan" (重建計畫) directly for a building permit. Qualifying for this track requires meeting the strict criteria of Articles 3 and 5:

• Applicable scope and building eligibility (Article 3): The property must sit within an "urban planning area" (都市計畫範圍內), be a legal building not designated by the competent authority as having historical, cultural, artistic, or commemorative value, and meet one of three conditions: (1) notified by the building authority under building or disaster-prevention laws for mandatory demolition within a deadline, immediate demolition, or mandatory retrofitting/demolition due to imminent danger; (2) failing to reach the minimum grade in a structural safety performance assessment; or (3) building age of 30 years or older whose structural safety performance assessment shows seismic capacity below the required standard, and where structural retrofitting is not cost-effective or the building lacks an elevator (昇降設備). Most 4- and 5-story walk-up apartments without elevators in Taipei and New Taipei qualify under Subparagraph 3 ("30+ years old + preliminary seismic assessment below standard + no elevator").
• Consent threshold (Article 5 paragraph 1): To draft a reconstruction plan, the applicant must obtain the consent of all (100%) land and legal building owners within the reconstruction plan boundary. Even 1 dissenting owner prevents that land parcel from being included (unless the dissenting parcel is excluded by redrawing the site boundary).
• Reconstruction plan application sunset deadline (Article 5 paragraph 2): The statute provides that "applications for the reconstruction plan in the preceding paragraph shall be implemented until May 31, 2027 (中華民國一百十六年五月三十一日)". Homeowners wishing to apply under the current Act must complete their preliminary seismic assessment, secure 100% consent, and file the reconstruction plan with the municipal or county/city government by that statutory date (subject to any subsequent legislative amendments).

To check whether your building's occupancy permit issue date has passed the 30-year mark, read the site's guide to checking building age via occupancy permit dates and building transcripts and calculate it with the building age calculator.

How to reach the FAR cap after the time bonus hit zero: Article 6 and the FAR Bonus Regulations

Under Article 6 paragraph 1 of the Dangerous and Old Buildings Act, post-reconstruction building floor area may not exceed "1.3 times the base floor area ratio (a maximum 30% bonus)" or "1.15 times the original building floor area ratio (a maximum 15% bonus over original floor area)". During the first 8 years of the Act, filing early earned a "time bonus" stepping down from 10% to 1%, plus up to 10% combined with the "scale bonus" (for an overall cap of 40%).

However, starting May 12, 2025 (民國 114 年 5 月 12 日), the "time bonus" officially dropped to 0%. New applications must now rely entirely on physical performance items and the "scale bonus" under the Regulations on Building Bulk Bonus for Urban Dangerous and Old Buildings (《都市危險及老舊建築物建築容積獎勵辦法》):

Here is how the "scale bonus" arithmetic works: if your site area is only 150 m² (about 45 ping), it falls short of the 200 m² threshold, so with the time bonus at zero your time/scale bonus is 0%; if you merge two neighboring walk-up apartments to reach a 600 m² site (about 181.5 ping), the scale bonus becomes 2% + [(600 - 200) ÷ 100] × 0.5% = 4%; reaching the full 10% scale bonus cap requires a combined site area of 1,800 m² (about 544.5 ping).

Article 8 of the Dangerous and Old Buildings Act: up to 12 years of land value tax and house tax reductions

Beyond FAR bonuses, Article 8 of the Act provides two stages of tax relief for original owners who apply within the implementation period:

1. During construction (land value tax exemption): Land Value Tax (地價稅) is exempted during the reconstruction period when the land cannot be used (if reconstruction is not completed within the building permit period for reasons attributable to the landowner, tax is levied according to law).
2. First 2 years after completion (50% cut in both land value tax and house tax): After reconstruction is completed, Land Value Tax and House Tax (房屋稅) are reduced by half for 2 years.
3. Up to 10 additional years of 50% house tax cut for natural-person owners who do not transfer title: Where the owner of the legal building prior to reconstruction is a natural person and does not transfer ownership after reconstruction (continues holding the property), the 50% House Tax reduction is extended until ownership is transferred, up to a maximum extension of 10 years—giving original natural-person owners up to 12 years total (2 + 10 years) of halved House Tax.

Why are "small sites under 100 ping" struggling with dangerous-and-old reconstruction now? 3 pain points and alternatives

During the early years when the time bonus offered an automatic 8% to 10%, Taipei and New Taipei saw many single-townhouse or single-stairwell 40-ping mini projects ("pencil towers"). Today, small-site projects face three major hurdles:

• Pain point 1: Losing both the scale bonus and the setback bonus. Sites under 200 m² get 0% scale bonus; if the lot frontage or depth is narrow, setting back 2 to 4 meters leaves too little footprint for usable apartments, forfeiting another 8% to 10% in setback bonuses.
• Pain point 2: High per-ping construction cost and high public-area ratio eating into net indoor space. Whether a site is 50 ping or 500 ping, a new building must still include fire stairs, an elevator, mechanical rooms, and basement excavation retaining walls. The smaller the site, the higher the construction cost per ping, and the elevator core and stairs alone can consume 40% to 50% of each floorplate, shrinking the net indoor floor area returned to owners.
• Pain point 3: Inability to fit ramp-access flat parking spaces. Small lots lack the depth for a car ramp and must rely on mechanical parking lifts, hurting post-completion property value and convenience.

If your walk-up apartment sits on a small lot, first audit the building's condition with the site's old-house checkup tool and evaluate three tracks: (1) invite adjacent walk-up buildings to merge so the site exceeds 200 to 500 m², unlocking scale and setback bonuses while spreading construction costs; (2) if the block has over 100 households and a few holdouts prevent 100% consent, switch to urban renewal (see the site's urban renewal vs dangerous-and-old reconstruction comparison and Taipei unsafe old building reconstruction incentive guide); or (3) if immediate reconstruction is not feasible, apply for the Ministry of the Interior "Old-Home Functional Renewal Plan" to renovate the facade, piping, and add an elevator.

Frequently asked questions

After the Dangerous and Old Buildings Act expires on May 31, 2027 (民國 116 年 5 月 31 日), will applications no longer be accepted?

Article 5 paragraph 2 of the current Statute for Expediting Reconstruction of Urban Dangerous and Old Buildings explicitly sets the application period for reconstruction plans through May 31, 2027. Projects that submit their 100% consent forms and reconstruction plan application to the local government on or before that date continue through review, permit issuance, construction, and Article 8 tax reductions; whether the deadline is extended or amended after May 31, 2027 depends on future legislation passed by the Legislative Yuan.

Can a vacant lot (or a newer building under 30 years old) next to our old apartment be merged into a dangerous-and-old reconstruction project?

Yes—this is called "merging neighboring land" (合併鄰地). However, to prevent a tiny eligible old building from annexing a huge vacant lot to claim generous FAR bonuses, Article 3 paragraph 2 of the Act stipulates that the area of merged neighboring land may not exceed the site area of the eligible dangerous/old building itself, and any portion of merged neighboring land exceeding 1,000 m² is ineligible for Article 6 FAR bonuses and Article 8 tax reductions.

If the 1st-floor storefront owner refuses to join, can the 2nd- through 5th-floor owners apply for dangerous-and-old reconstruction on their own?

No. Floors 1 through 5 of an apartment building share the same building lot (co-owned land shares) and a single structural frame, so you cannot demolish floors 2 through 5 while leaving the 1st floor standing. Because the Dangerous and Old Buildings Act requires "100% consent of all land and legal building owners" within the reconstruction plan boundary, if the 1st-floor owner refuses, the building cannot use the Dangerous and Old Buildings Act and must use the majority-consent track under the Urban Renewal Act (such as exceeding 75% or 80% statutory consent).

Sources

• National Laws and Regulations Database (全國法規資料庫): Statute for Expediting Reconstruction of Urban Dangerous and Old Buildings Articles 3, 5, 6, and 8 (verified 2026-11-07): eligibility, 100% consent requirement, May 31, 2027 (116 年 5 月 31 日) application deadline, 1.3x base FAR cap, and up to 12 years of 50% house tax reduction
• National Laws and Regulations Database (全國法規資料庫): Regulations on Building Bulk Bonus for Urban Dangerous and Old Buildings (verified 2026-11-07): original FAR, setback, seismic, green building, smart building, 0% time bonus, and 200 m² scale bonus formulas
• National Land Management Agency Urban Renewal Portal (內政部國土管理署都市更新入口網): Dangerous and Old Building Reconstruction Zone and policy guide (verified 2026-11-07): reconstruction application workflow and structural safety performance assessment subsidies