New Government's Housing Supply Expansion: "Active Private-Public Cooperation Needed"

Policy Seminar on 'Private-Public Cooperation Tasks to Expand Housing Supply under the New Government' on the 22nd
Jointly Hosted by LH Land and Housing Institute, Construction Industry Research Institute, and Housing Welfare Forum
Sharing European Supply Expansion Cases, Exploring Private-Public Cooperation Methods for Redevelopment Projects and Station Area Housing

The volume of apartment sales in Seoul has turned to an upward trend for the first time in eight months. According to the Seoul Real Estate Information Plaza, there were 937 sales transactions in Seoul in March, a 16.4% increase compared to the previous month (805 transactions). This marks a rebound after seven consecutive months of decline from August last year (4,064 transactions) through February this year (805 transactions). It appears that the market, which had been frozen due to expectations of regulatory easing, is beginning to breathe again. A view of apartments from Namsan on the 11th. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] It has been argued that active cooperation between the private and public sectors is essential for the smooth implementation of the new government's housing supply expansion policy.

Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) announced that on the 22nd, it held a policy seminar titled "Private-Public Cooperation Tasks for Expanding Housing Supply under the New Government" in the medium conference room on the 2nd floor of the Construction Hall in Nonhyeon-dong, Seoul.

The seminar, jointly hosted by the LH Land and Housing Institute, Korea Institute of Construction Industry, and Korea Housing Welfare Forum, was held to discuss the practical tasks for implementing the "2.5 million housing units supply over five years" policy and cooperation methods between the private and public sectors following the inauguration of the new government.

The first presenter, Yoonkyung Heo, Research Director at the Korea Institute of Construction Industry, compared the new government's housing supply expansion policy with European cases and presented related implications.

Research Director Heo said, "The UK and Germany are also experiencing social problems due to rapid housing price increases and have recently shifted toward expanding housing supply volumes compared to before. Both countries have announced supply targets and are making multifaceted efforts to improve systems and advance the industry, such as shortening housing supply periods, diversifying supply entities, revising building regulations, and standardizing construction to reduce building costs. These points provide many implications for Korea's housing supply policy."

Deputy Research Fellow Taehee Lee of the Korea Institute of Construction Industry presented on the direction of redevelopment projects and cooperation tasks between the private and public sectors. Lee mentioned the public interest contributions of redevelopment projects in improving residential environments and expanding housing supply, stating, "Korea, which has undergone rapid urbanization, still has many areas with very poor physical environments, and there is a high preference for proximity between residence and workplace, so it is necessary to actively promote redevelopment projects."

He added, "The current method, where redevelopment projects can only be promoted in times of a favorable real estate market or in areas where profitability is secured, has limitations. Beyond the current passive public intervention focused on permits and approvals, it is necessary to promote projects through more active public support and cooperation between the private and public sectors."

The third presenter, Hyuksam Kwon, Research Fellow at the LH Land and Housing Institute, spoke about private-public cooperation tasks focusing on station-area housing and small-scale redevelopment.

Research Fellow Kwon said, "To sufficiently supply high-quality new housing in high-demand urban areas, not only long-term large-scale housing supply but also short-term small-scale housing supply through private-public cooperation is necessary. It is important to actively promote projects through various regulatory relaxations in undeveloped station areas or low-rise residential zones."

In particular, he said, "The newly supplied first homes in station areas will be provided by the public sector owning the land and selling only the housing units to actual demanders. This method is expected to enable rapid supply of affordable housing in urban areas. Since securing business sites in urban areas is difficult, a division of roles between the private and public sectors is necessary."

The comprehensive discussion was chaired by Hwanyong Park, Executive Director of the Korea Housing Welfare Forum, with participants including Dahee Kim, CEO of Urban Architecture Connection, Youngwoo Nam, Professor of International Finance and Real Estate at Nazareth University, Jangwon Ahn, Senior Reporter at JoongAng Ilbo, Kyuhyun Ji, Professor of Digital Urban Engineering at Hanyang Cyber University, and Miyun Jin, Policy Support Director at the LH Land and Housing Institute.

Miyun Jin, Policy Support Director at LH, said, "It is meaningful that the private and public sectors gathered to discuss the new government's housing supply expansion policy. I hope that through this seminar, private and public cooperation will lead to stable housing supply, thereby enhancing the stability and quality of housing for the people."

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