Lee Nak-yeon, "Apply Appropriate Housing Standards Starting with 'Gonggong Jutaek'... Will Eliminate Quality Gap with Private Apartments"

Public Housing to Be Supplied at Private Apartment Quality to Eliminate Quality Gap
Upgraded to Meet Middle-Class Quality Demands... Larger Floor Areas and Zero Noise Between Floors
"Gradually Eliminating Underground Rooms, Rooftop Rooms, and Goshiwon (Jiokgo)"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Lee Nak-yeon, former leader and presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated, "We will establish appropriate housing standards and raise the minimum housing standards to create a stable and pleasant living environment," adding that he will first apply appropriate housing standards to 'public housing.'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 27th, Lee held a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office and announced a housing policy aimed at supplying high-quality public housing that the middle class desires to live in.

In his declaration of candidacy on the 5th, Lee presented a new welfare vision that expands state responsibility by setting minimum standards guaranteeing a basic quality of life in eight areas directly related to citizens' lives: income, housing, labor, education, healthcare, care services, culture, and environment. On this day, Lee said he would establish appropriate housing standards within the 'housing policy' area and apply these standards starting with public housing.

Lee recently proposed a plan to significantly improve the overall quality of construction processes?including design, construction, and finishing materials?by building public housing on land parcels and idle land that become available through the enforcement of the three laws regulating land monopoly, which he spearheaded.

He emphasized that this would eliminate the qualitative gap between public housing and privately sold housing, maintaining sale prices while enhancing quality and satisfaction. Until now, public housing was built with minimum standard construction costs, resulting in lower quality compared to private housing, which led to a lack of preference for public housing among citizens.

Lee stressed that the supply methods would be diversely designed to support easy move-in for single-person households, newlyweds, and home-seekers in their 40s. He also specifically proposed appropriate housing standards such as increasing the area per household and measures to block noise between floors. The target appropriate areas are 31.1㎡ (approximately 10 pyeong) for single-person households, 52.8㎡ (approximately 18 pyeong) for two-person households, 61.8㎡ (approximately 24 pyeong) for three-person households, 76.6㎡ (approximately 30 pyeong) for four-person households, and 90.4㎡ (approximately 37 pyeong) for five-person households. For households of three or more, he announced plans to install two or more bathrooms and toilets.

Considering that complaints about noise between floors reached 42,000 cases last year, a 60% increase from the previous year, Lee proposed strict standards to address noise issues by strengthening floor thickness from 210mm since 2013 (previously 120mm in 1999) to 240mm in the future.

In particular, Lee announced plans to significantly expand the 'Housing Upgrade Support Project for Vulnerable Housing Groups,' which supports relocation and settlement for those facing housing crises, and to gradually eliminate underground rooms, rooftop rooms, and goshiwon (known as "jigok-go"). He added that residents of jigok-go would also be included as beneficiaries of the housing upgrade support project.

Furthermore, he set the minimum area standard for single-person households, which is the basis of all housing policies, to increase from 14㎡ (4.2 pyeong) to 25㎡ (approximately 8 pyeong). The standards for two-person households will be raised to 30㎡ (approximately 10 pyeong), three-person households to 40㎡ (12 pyeong), four-person households to 50㎡ (approximately 18 pyeong), and five-person households to 60㎡ (approximately 25 pyeong). He also pledged to mandate sufficient natural lighting, high-quality sewage facilities, flush toilets and bathrooms, hot water supply, heating and cooling systems, and evacuation routes.

Lee said, "Until now, public housing supply in housing policy has focused on helping socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, while middle-class housing was left to the market. However, housing welfare is an area for which the government must take responsibility," emphasizing, "We will increase the government's responsibility so that citizens can enjoy a stable and pleasant living environment." A financial roadmap to support these housing policy plans will be announced later.

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