'Vacant Houses → Public Rental Housing'... Government Launches Urban Regeneration New Deal Project in Full Swing

A case in Hadong-gun, Gyeongnam, where three vacant houses were demolished and supplied as circular rental housing and a village hall (Photo by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] The government is set to actively promote the Urban Regeneration New Deal project, which converts vacant houses in urban areas into public rental housing and other uses.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 30th, there are an estimated 109,000 vacant houses nationwide that have not been occupied or used for over a year, confirmed by local government heads. The number of vacant houses is rapidly increasing due to aging populations and the hollowing out of old downtown areas. The Ministry plans to issue administrative guidance for all local governments in urban areas to conduct a vacancy survey within this year to accurately assess the status of vacant houses.

If local governments fail to initiate the vacancy survey and establish a vacant house maintenance plan within the designated period, penalties such as exclusion from new selections for the Urban Regeneration New Deal project will be applied. The Ministry will prepare and distribute the "Vacant House Maintenance Plan Establishment Guidelines" within the year to help local governments develop substantial maintenance plans.

Starting this year, the Ministry will promote a pilot project specializing in vacant house regeneration. This project focuses on developing hubs in areas densely populated with vacant houses through residential environment improvement projects, while regenerating nearby areas together under the Urban Regeneration New Deal project.

The Ministry has selected five pilot project sites: Seodaemun-gu in Seoul, Dongducheon-si in Gyeonggi, Dong-gu in Incheon, Jeonju-si in Jeonbuk, and Sacheon-si in Gyeongnam. For these five locations, related procedures will begin as early as this year to confirm their inclusion in the Urban Regeneration New Deal project.

In Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, plans include demolishing vacant houses and empty commercial buildings to supply public rental housing and public rental commercial spaces. In Jeonju-si, Jeonbuk, vacant houses that increased due to factory closures in the 1990s will be refurbished into public rental housing and through autonomous housing maintenance projects.

Institutional improvements will also be pursued to more effectively manage vacant houses that pose high collapse risks or raise crime concerns.

First, if vacant house owners fail to comply with safety measures or demolition orders from local government heads, a compliance penalty will be introduced to enforce these actions.

Additionally, a compulsory acquisition right will be established to allow acquisition and use of vacant houses when it is necessary to acquire them for public interest purposes and carry out maintenance projects.

The amendment bill for the Vacant House Act to improve related systems will be finalized next month, and procedures will begin to revise the Vacant House Act within the year.

Baek Won-guk, head of the Urban Regeneration Project Planning Division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated, "We will continue to identify institutional improvements to encourage voluntary vacant house maintenance by the private sector and build a foundation for public and private sectors to jointly solve the vacant house issue."

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