Subscription Gap Prevented... Normal Subscription Process to Resume at Korea Appraisal Board Starting Next Month

Amendment to the Housing Act Passed by the National Assembly Judiciary Committee on the 9th... Full Assembly Expected to Approve Same Day
Essential to Amend Related Laws for Korea Appraisal Board to Process Financial Information
Concerns Over 'Subscription Disruption' Due to Parliamentary Deadlock, but Normal Progress Planned from Next Month

The 'Hoban Summit Songpa' promotional center in Wirye New Town, which opened on the 20th of last month at the Hoban Construction headquarters in Seocho-gu, Seoul, is bustling with visitors. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] Starting next month, the Korea Real Estate Board will officially take over the housing subscription tasks. The new system will automatically pre-verify subscription eligibility, significantly reducing the number of ineligible applicants due to qualification issues.

According to the National Assembly and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, a partial amendment to the Housing Act containing these provisions passed the full meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly on the morning of the 9th. The amendment was also scheduled to be presented at the plenary session of the National Assembly held that afternoon. It is known that contentious bills, such as those related to the adjustment of investigative authority between the police and prosecution, which are currently causing conflicts between ruling and opposition parties, will not be presented at this plenary session, making the passage of this amendment highly likely.

If the amendment passes the plenary session, it will go through procedures such as government transmission, Cabinet approval, and official gazette publication, which usually take about two weeks, and is planned to be promulgated around the end of this month. The amendment will take effect immediately upon promulgation. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is reportedly discussing ways to shorten related procedures with the National Assembly and others to bring forward the implementation date.

This transfer of subscription tasks was undertaken to strengthen pre-verification of subscription eligibility. Currently, in the Apartmenttoyou system operated by the Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute, applicants manually enter their subscription qualifications, ranking, and points, so if information is mistakenly entered, applicants must bear disadvantages such as subscription restrictions. The Ministry plans to strengthen the pre-verification process in the new system, which the Real Estate Board will operate starting next month, allowing applicants to simultaneously check relevant information such as home ownership status of themselves and household members, official prices of owned homes, and calculation of non-homeownership periods.

For the Real Estate Board, a non-financial institution, to operate the new subscription system, it is essential to amend the Housing Act to allow the Board to process financial information of subscription account holders. However, concerns arose that the bill’s passage might be stalled due to prolonged deadlock in the National Assembly. The bill, originally introduced by Representative Ham Jin-gyu of the Liberty Korea Party in May last year and passed as a committee alternative in the full meeting of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee on the 6th of last month, faced delays due to the ongoing deadlock, raising concerns that the amendment might not be implemented within January.

If this happened, it was highly likely that subscription for 84,400 households in 119 apartment complexes scheduled to be supplied nationwide in February and March would face significant disruptions. However, with the amendment expected to be implemented around the end of this month, the Real Estate Board will be able to secure subscribers’ personal information as planned and process various tasks normally, preventing the worst-case scenario of subscription paralysis.

Meanwhile, the passed amendment also includes provisions related to regional housing association projects and remodeling projects.

According to the new amendment, unlike the current rule where approval for establishing a regional housing association was possible by securing usage rights for at least 80% of the land, going forward, ownership rights for at least 15% of the land must also be secured. Additionally, when receiving reports for recruiting association members, usage rights for at least 50% of the land must be secured and reported to local governments before recruiting members. Furthermore, if project plan approval is not obtained within three years after association establishment approval, the association must decide on dissolution through a general meeting.

In contrast to the strengthened provisions related to regional housing association projects, the requirements for remodeling projects have been significantly relaxed. Currently, the association must obtain remodeling consent from 100% of owners for project plan approval. However, this has been eased to allow project plan approval with consent from at least 75% of owners, even if the association has exercised the right to demand sale from dissenting owners. Also, the amendment applies the "Act on Maintenance and Improvement of Urban Areas and Dwelling Conditions" (Urban and Residential Environment Improvement Act) to confirm rights over land and buildings after remodeling completion.

The amendment also includes provisions to strengthen quality control, such as enabling pre-occupancy inspections to check housing construction status.

A Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport official said, "Although the bill’s passage was delayed, preparations have been ongoing for a long time except for the personal information transfer. There will be no obstacles for the Real Estate Board to perform subscription tasks starting February."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.