ABSTRACT
In Germany the system of reference land values was established by law more than 50 years ago to support market transparency and to avoid speculations with land. Reference land values are available for each neighbourhood and are evaluated and published by official valuation boards periodically. This chapter examines the impact of tool under the perspective of land policy. It analyzes the different methods of the evaluation, and the way market participants usually make use of the reference land values, to examine possible land policy effects. The chapter presents a case study of a residential area in a medium-size town near Hanover, Lower Saxony, to illustrate the market effects of reference land values. Reference land values are important in the budget control of German municipalities and state bodies. A minimizing of the temporal shift is possible if reference land values are verified at least twice a year.
