Oh Se-hoon: "Redevelopment and reconstruction driving up housing prices? We will prevent that from happening"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Kim Hyemin and Lee Hyunju] Seoul’s new mayor, Oh Se-hoon, said on the 11th regarding the deregulation of redevelopment and reconstruction, "There are concerns that house prices might rise, but minimizing that is the know-how," adding, "I will make sure that does not happen."

After holding a real estate policy meeting with the party leadership at the People Power Party headquarters in Yeouido in the afternoon, Mayor Oh told reporters, "Any policy inevitably has side effects and dysfunctions," and said, "From that perspective, I will proceed with work cautiously but swiftly, and swiftly but cautiously."

When asked whether the city council might put a brake on the deregulation of real estate, he said, "That topic was included in today’s meeting, but we have not yet submitted a finalized proposal to the city council," adding, "We plan to start full-scale consultations with the city council from next week."

Regarding the joint management method with Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, he said, "We had various discussions over a meal yesterday," and added, "When personnel appointments for Seoul City begin next week, it will probably be naturally disclosed."

Meanwhile, in his opening remarks, Mayor Oh said, "As house prices rise, the official property prices have surged too rapidly, causing over 60 types of property-related burdens including health insurance premiums," and added, "We are making a paradigm shift to come up with fundamental solutions for this issue."

He said, "At the city level, we are exploring setting a benchmark through a self-investigation of how much prices have risen," and added, "Furthermore, we are considering a plan to unify the scattered actual transaction price and official price assessment work under the city to provide sufficient information to citizens without confusion. This is related to legislative amendments."

Mayor Oh described the current situation, saying, "There are parts that the city council can resolve through ordinance amendments, such as the 35-story height restriction along the Han River and the relaxation of floor area ratios in residential areas, while the relaxation of safety inspection standards requires consultation with the central government, including the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport," and requested, "I ask the People Power Party to help solve issues with the Ministry of Land and in legislation."

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