Growing Interest in Seoul Public Redevelopment

Preparatory Committee Formed by Cheongpa 1-ga Residents
Official Letter to Yongsan District Office for Project Participation
Sinwol 7-dong Also Begins Collecting Consent Forms

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dong-hyun] 'Public redevelopment' is rapidly emerging as an alternative to redevelopment projects in Seoul. Redevelopment districts that want to proceed quickly with projects are increasingly interested, even if it means increasing rental housing supply.

According to the maintenance industry on the 12th, residents of Cheongpa-dong 1-ga in Yongsan-gu recently formed a preliminary promotion committee for redevelopment projects and sent an official letter to Yongsan-gu Office requesting participation in the public redevelopment project. The residents plan to obtain resident consent by the 17th and participate in the government's ongoing public redevelopment project candidate site contest. This area, located near Seoul Station, borders the Seogye-dong district unit planning zone to the north and Cheongpa 1 district to the south. A resident of Cheongpa-dong 1-ga explained, "After redevelopment talks surfaced, there was no progress for decades and it fizzled out, but the atmosphere changed after the government's public redevelopment contest."

Residents of Sinwol 7-dong in Yangcheon-gu also recently launched a public redevelopment association and began collecting consent forms for project participation. This area is adjacent to Sinjeong New Town, and except for some street housing maintenance projects in certain parts, there had been no large-scale redevelopment movements. However, as concerns over indiscriminate development due to successive small-scale multi-family housing constructions have grown recently, residents are turning their attention to public redevelopment.

Besides these, expectations for public redevelopment are rising mainly in old residential areas where redevelopment had not been promoted due to the lack of project entities and in districts where projects have been stalled for a long time after designation as maintenance zones. According to Seoul City, public redevelopment projects are being considered in more than 20 maintenance project zones within Seoul. Previously, application forms were submitted for Hannam 1 district, Jangwi 9 district, Heukseok 2 district, Ahyeon 1 district, and intentions to participate in public redevelopment were also expressed in Jeonnong 9 district, Seongbuk 1 district, and Jangwi 8 district.

Public redevelopment is a redevelopment project promoted with the participation of public entities such as Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) and Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation (SH Corporation). It was first introduced in the 'Measures to Strengthen the Housing Supply Base in the Metropolitan Area' announced by the government on May 6, and the scope was expanded to include areas where maintenance zones were lifted in the August 4 real estate measures. Participation in public redevelopment offers incentives such as increased floor area ratio, simplified approval procedures, and exemption from the price ceiling system. The project period, which usually took more than 10 years, is expected to be shortened to within 5 years. However, there is an obligation to supply 50% of the remaining units, excluding those allocated to association members, as rental housing.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Seoul City plan to complete candidate site selection by December for existing maintenance zones and by March next year for new areas such as zones where maintenance designation was lifted, after receiving applications until November 4. The government plans to supply a total of 20,000 units through public redevelopment, starting with 500 units as a pilot project this year, followed by 4,500 units in 2021 and 15,000 units in 2022.

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