Ahn Cheol-soo: "746,000 Houses to Be Supplied Over 5 Years... Will Definitely Prevent Tax Bomb"

'Private-Led Housing Supply Policy' Instead of Government-Led
Utilizing Sites in Seoul's Development Restriction Zones
Significant Relaxation of DTI and LTV Loan Limits
Innovation in Subscription System... Introduction of Age-Based Quotas
Greenbelt Release "Reviewing Areas with No Practical Function"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party who declared his candidacy for the Seoul mayoral by-election, stated on the 14th, “We will supply proper youth rental housing to achieve housing stability and housing welfare,” adding, “We aim to supply a total of 746,000 housing units over the next five years by providing housing for the 30s and 40s, 50s and 60s generations who have been marginalized under the Moon Jae-in administration, and by creating an environment where the private sector can actively promote redevelopment and reconstruction projects.”

At a press conference on real estate policy held at the National Assembly that day, Ahn said, “Until now, the Moon Jae-in administration has pursued government-led housing supply policies and housing policies for low-income groups, but I will create a happy Seoul where not only low-income groups but also the middle class can live well together through a private sector-led housing supply policy supported by the Seoul Metropolitan Government.”

He explained, “For young people, we will introduce a youth housing voucher system and a deposit-free system, and supply an additional 100,000 youth rental housing units. Newlyweds will be given priority for youth housing and guaranteed a 10-year residency right. To expand supply, we will build 50,000 youth metro housing units in mixed-use residential-commercial forms on the upper spaces of underground national and metropolitan railways. We will also construct 50,000 units through the use of idle city-owned spaces, old public office sites, parking lots, and reconstruction of public rental housing. In this way, a total of 100,000 youth rental housing units will be supplied to low-income youth.”

He continued, “We will promote the supply of 400,000 housing units for the 30s and 40s, 50s and 60s generations. The supply policy should be oriented toward dramatically increasing housing for the 30s and 40s generation, who have a relatively high number of homeless people,” adding, “We will supply housing by utilizing various idle lands available in Seoul, including station areas, semi-industrial zones currently being developed by the government, development-restricted zones that are underutilized, and sites of relocated public institutions.”

Ahn said, “We will support smooth progress of redevelopment, reconstruction, and remodeling projects. By relaxing floor area ratios for redevelopment projects as much as possible, we will achieve a total supply of 300,000 housing units along with improvements in residential environments. We will actively promote 200,000 units of supply through ‘private development and public-private joint development methods’ focusing on areas where redevelopment and reconstruction projects are sluggish. Additionally, since redevelopment projects within redevelopment districts are being carried out by constructing new apartments, we will supply an additional 100,000 units through zoning upgrades.”

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding real estate deregulation policies, Ahn said, “I will definitely block the absurd tax bomb that takes away several months’ salary because the price of one’s own home, which cannot even be sold, has risen,” adding, “For acquisition tax and property tax on single-homeowners, we will lower tax rates linked to increases in official land prices and official apartment prices so that the tax burden remains the same as before. If the central government’s tax increase is offset by lowering local tax rates, the tax bomb can be prevented.”

Ahn stated, “We will work to ease various regulations on home purchase for actual homebuyers without homes. Even in regulated areas, we will significantly relax loan restrictions such as DTI and LTV for those who have been homeless for a certain period, opening up opportunities for more people to own homes,” and added, “We will innovate the real estate subscription system. To guarantee homeownership opportunities for younger generations, we will introduce a quota system by subscriber age group.”

Ahn said, “We will demand improvements to the problems of the three lease laws. By partially revising tenant protection provisions to relax the owner’s actual residence requirements and providing tax benefits to landlords proportional to the number of contract renewals, we can alleviate some of the instability in the rental market,” adding, “We will strive to transfer some of the central government’s authority over real estate market regulations to local governments.”

Regarding the release of the greenbelt, Ahn stated, “There are actually greenbelt areas where there are no trees at all and which do not function as greenbelts,” adding, “I think it is worth considering increasing land utilization in such areas.”

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