"Villa Construction" in Public Redevelopment Candidate Sites? "Building Activities Must Be Prohibited"

Secondary Public Redevelopment Candidate Areas Composed of Maintenance Release and Cancellation Zones
No Legal Basis to Restrict Construction Activities, Resulting in Continued Villa Construction Proliferation
Cash Settlement Without Move-in Rights, Yet Construction Applications Persist
"Fraudulent Sales Promising Move-in Rights... Public Redevelopment May Fail if Opposition Grows"

[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] "What is the meaning of constructing villas in public redevelopment candidate sites? Building permits for villas intended for share-splitting must be banned immediately."

In front of a newly constructed villa construction site within Shingil 1 District, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, a second-round public redevelopment candidate site, a banner reading "Strongly Oppose Villa Construction" was recently hung. Park Jong-deok, the Public Redevelopment Promotion Committee Chairman of Shingil 1 District, stated, "All the villas currently being built are subject to cash settlement, but fraudulent sales are rampant," adding, "Buyers will eventually oppose public redevelopment, and if the project fails, only the villa developers will benefit."

The second-round public redevelopment candidate sites are struggling with the issue of villa construction. All of these areas have had their redevelopment projects canceled or lifted, so there is no proper legal basis to restrict construction activities. In fact, even after the candidate sites were confirmed, applications for villa construction and building permits continue to be submitted. Residents are demanding institutional improvements to prevent the anticipated confusion from causing the project to fail.

According to the maintenance industry on the 4th, Shingil 1 District filed a complaint with the Urban Regeneration Division of Yeongdeungpo-gu Office on the 30th of last month opposing villa construction within the district. Since it was confirmed as a public redevelopment candidate site, they argue that villa construction should be halted for smooth project progress and that construction restrictions should be imposed going forward. Chairman Park said, "Yeongdeungpo-gu Office, which recommended Shingil 1 District as a public redevelopment candidate site, is causing major confusion in the project by actually permitting villa construction."

Villa construction has continued in Shingil 1 District since it was removed from the redevelopment zone in 2017. The problem is that this trend has continued even after the decision to promote public redevelopment. Unlike the first-round public redevelopment candidate sites, which were existing redevelopment zones, there is no legal basis to restrict construction activities. Moreover, even after being finally selected as a second-round public redevelopment candidate site, three applications for building permits for villa construction have been submitted to Yeongdeungpo-gu Office. Similar conflicts are reported in many other second-round public redevelopment candidate sites besides Shingil 1 District.

Buyers of newly constructed villas do not receive residential rights under public redevelopment. This is because the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Seoul City set the rights calculation date for public redevelopment sites as September 21 of last year, when the public offering began. Nevertheless, the National Public Redevelopment Project Council states that there are many cases of false or exaggerated advertisements suggesting that buyers can receive residential rights, leading to villa sales. If villa construction activities are not stopped, the public redevelopment project may also face setbacks. This is because cash settlement recipients, who oppose the compensation amount lower than market value, will continue to resist. If the project becomes embroiled in disputes, there is a possibility that the public redevelopment project itself will fail.

However, local district offices also acknowledge the need to restrict construction activities but say there is no solution. A representative from the Urban Regeneration Division of Yeongdeungpo-gu Office said, "Restricting construction activities regulates property rights, so it cannot be artificially decided without related legal grounds," adding, "Applications for construction activities submitted after the selection of public redevelopment candidate sites are currently on hold, and the district office is reviewing measures." Seoul City also explains that there is no appropriate solution. A Seoul City official said, "Since city-level measures such as designating the rights calculation date have already been prepared, the district office should mediate conflicts related to construction activities."

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