Nominee Byeon Chang-heum for Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Direction of Real Estate Policy

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] Market forecasts suggest that Byun Chang-hoom, the nominee for Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, will focus on public housing blueprints and the promotion of Korea-style New Deal policies in his real estate policy direction.

Byeon Chang-heum, Nominee for Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

As the second head of real estate policy under the current administration, attention is focused on how nominee Byun will stabilize the real estate market, which is currently in turmoil due to the jeonse crisis.

On the 4th, the Blue House nominated Byun Chang-hoom, president of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), as the successor to Minister Kim Hyun-mi. This marks the first change in 3 years and 6 months since June 2016.

Nominee Byun, recognized as an expert in housing supply policies such as urban planning and urban regeneration, is expected to prioritize the urban regeneration New Deal policy.

Before LH, he led the 'Seoul-type Urban Regeneration' project as president of Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation (SH), which influenced the current administration's urban regeneration New Deal policy.

Given that nominee Byun, an expert in housing supply including urban regeneration, is becoming the head of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, it is anticipated that the government’s supply policies, including public housing, will receive a stronger push.

There is speculation that the Blue House’s intention is for nominee Byun, who has many ideas in urban planning and diverse experience in urban regeneration, to devise innovative measures to expand housing supply in the Seoul metropolitan area, where supply is insufficient.

However, experts and the market expect that the existing framework of real estate policy will not change significantly, as nominee Byun has shown agreement with current real estate policies.

At a recent National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee briefing, nominee Byun expressed support for the three lease laws, stating, "The principle is to allow tenants to live for a sufficient period, and no country completely leaves housing to the market."

Regarding criticism that the government treats owners of three homes as speculators, nominee Byun emphasized, "There may be circumstances, but it is right to impose burdens on ownership."

He also argued that the current administration’s housing policy is better than those of the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye governments. In response to Future United Party lawmaker Song Seok-joon’s question, "If you compare the housing policies of the three administrations (Lee Myung-bak, Park Geun-hye, Moon Jae-in), where does this government rank?" nominee Byun said, "This government is the best. Among the ratings 'high, medium, low,' it is at least 'medium-high.'"

Some believe that the current housing situation is far from easy, and since the Blue House has declared a 'war on speculative forces,' regulatory policies will continue unchanged.

Since the implementation of the lease law, the jeonse shortage has worsened, which has turned into increased housing purchase demand, putting upward pressure on mid- to low-priced housing. Due to the balloon effect, house prices have been fluctuating mainly in local metropolitan cities that had been quiet until now.

However, there are no suitable additional measures. This is also nominee Byun’s biggest challenge.

On the 19th of last month, even after expanding regulated areas such as speculative overheated zones and adjustment target areas, house prices have shown no signs of stabilizing due to excess liquidity in the market. Recently, the government downgraded Daegu’s Suseong District, previously a speculative overheated zone, to an adjustment target area.

In this context, nominee Byun is expected to leverage his experience to promote urban regeneration New Deal policies and various public housing policies.

Nominee Byun is highly regarded for his expertise, having continuously held key government positions related to real estate policy even after serving as a professor at Sejong University.

After resigning as president of Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation, he served as a private member of the Urban Regeneration Special Committee and as dean of the Graduate School of Public Policy at Sejong University. Upon becoming LH president, he presented the housing welfare roadmap, the construction of the 3rd new town, and urban regeneration New Deal as major tasks and pursued related measures.

A government official said, "Nominee Byun has always held key positions in major national projects of the current administration, such as urban regeneration, the housing welfare roadmap, and the construction of the 3rd new town, despite various role changes. He has effectively acted as a think tank that drew the practical blueprint of current real estate policy, so he understands the original purpose of the policy best."

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