Why New Construction in Public Redevelopment Candidate Sites?…Seoul City to Restrict Building Activities

Restriction on Building Permits for 14 New Candidate Areas: Public Opinion Hearing Until June 14
Building Permits and Construction Notifications Restricted for 2 Years... Accelerated Zoning Procedures for Candidate Sites Also Underway

[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport are planning to impose restrictions on construction activities under the Building Act for 14 new zones among 24 public redevelopment candidate sites. Once these construction restrictions are implemented, building new structures within the zones will be prohibited for two years. This includes not only construction permits and notifications but also restrictions on commencement reports to prevent construction even if a permit has already been granted.

On the 30th, Seoul and the Ministry announced this measure to prevent speculative forces from engaging in uneconomical construction activities and the resulting sales damages, as well as to preemptively block factors that could delay projects. The goal is to prevent the influx of speculators, accelerate project progress, and thereby realize the effect of expanding supply.

Previously, Seoul and the Ministry had announced September 21 of last year as the standard date for calculating rights to purchase in the public redevelopment candidate sites. In other words, only owners before this date are eligible to receive sales rights. Those who purchase homes built after this date are not entitled to sales rights and are only subject to cash compensation. Nevertheless, some candidate sites continue to see attempts to proceed with new construction through construction permit notifications and commencement reports.

Seoul and the Ministry believe that such newly built multi-family housing could cause sales damages.

This could also become a significant obstacle to smooth project progress. As the number of owners without sales rights increases, it becomes difficult to meet the required two-thirds resident consent rate for project advancement, and the proliferation of newly built villas could negatively affect the calculation of aging levels.

The 14 sites where construction restrictions will be applied are new zones starting redevelopment projects among the 24 first and second phase public redevelopment candidate sites, excluding existing maintenance zones. Unlike existing maintenance zones, these new zones currently have no construction restrictions, which could lead to uncontrolled building construction, so new protective measures are being introduced.

Seoul is publicly announcing these construction permit restrictions and will collect residents’ opinions until June 14. After review by the Construction Committee, the restrictions are planned to be implemented within June.

Seoul has also requested each autonomous district to actively promote awareness to prevent sales damages in newly built multi-family housing that have already received construction permits and are currently under construction, which are excluded from this measure.

Meanwhile, the 24 public redevelopment candidate sites are currently carrying out related procedures such as resident briefings without delay to ensure rapid project progress.

Among the first phase candidate sites (existing zones) selected in January this year, sites such as Sinseol 1, Heukseok 2, and Yongdu 1-6 have completed resident briefings explaining the rough maintenance plans and estimated contributions, and are currently collecting resident consent. They plan to complete maintenance plan changes within the year.

Among the second phase candidate sites (new zones) selected in March, two sites, Sangye 3 and Jangwi 9, have held resident briefings. The remaining 14 sites are also scheduled to complete resident briefings within the first half of the year, and management will ensure that the original plans proceed without disruption.

Kim Seong-bo, Head of Housing and Architecture at Seoul City, emphasized, “When purchasing multi-family housing in public redevelopment candidate sites, it is essential to verify ownership for each household before the rights calculation standard date to avoid sales damages. Special caution is required when buying multi-family housing where construction is not yet completed.”

He added, “Seoul will make every effort to prevent sales damages through construction permit restrictions and active promotion. We will also ensure fair management in cooperation with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, autonomous districts, LH, SH, and others to expedite project progress.”

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