Expanding 'One-Room Urban Lifestyle Housing'... Up to 3 Bedrooms Possible

Terminology Change from One-Room Housing to Small Housing
Legislative Notice of Amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Housing Act

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The exclusive residential area per unit in studio-type urban residential housing will be expanded, and restrictions on space composition will be relaxed. Additionally, the right to file disqualification requests for external auditors of apartment complexes and members of the Defect Review and Dispute Mediation Committee will be strengthened.

On the 7th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that it will publicly notify the amendment drafts of the Enforcement Decree of the Housing Act and the Enforcement Decree of the Apartment Management Act for 40 days starting from the 8th. This amendment is a follow-up measure to the "On-site Difficulty Improvement Plan for Expanding Housing Supply" announced on the 15th of last month.

First, the Ministry of Land will rationally improve regulations related to studio-type housing to promote the supply of quality small-sized housing in urban areas.

Studio-type housing, introduced in 2009, limited the exclusive residential area per unit to 50㎡ or less and required that all spaces except the bathroom and boiler room be configured as a single space, making it difficult for newlyweds or families with children to reside.

Accordingly, going forward, studio-type housing will be renamed as "small-sized housing," and the upper limit of exclusive residential area per unit will be expanded to 60㎡ or less, which is the level of general small apartments.

Also, for small-sized housing, various floor plans will be possible like general apartments, allowing units with an exclusive residential area of 30㎡ or more to have up to three bedrooms separated from the living room.

However, to prevent overload on auxiliary facilities such as parking lots and infrastructure, units with two or more bedrooms will be limited to one-third or less of the total number of small-sized housing units.

Along with this, the Ministry of Land will amend the Enforcement Decree of the Apartment Management Act to stipulate the obligation of external auditors of apartment complexes to inquire and verify bank account balances at financial institutions.

Currently, external auditors are required to inquire and verify account balances at financial institutions to thoroughly manage apartment management fees, but going forward, the results of the inquiry and verification must be attached when submitting the audit report to further strengthen the supervision of management fees.

Additionally, the Defect Review and Dispute Mediation Committee will notify the parties of the meeting date, location, and major backgrounds of attending members at least three days before the meeting, thereby strengthening the right of parties involved in defect review and dispute mediation to file disqualification requests.

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