Ministry of Land, First Work Report... Accelerating Supply of '2.5 Million Houses' through Private Urban Complex Projects and Integrated Review

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong is conducting a work report briefing at the Government Sejong Complex on the 18th.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) will unveil the "2.5 Million Housing Supply Roadmap" in the second week of August, which includes supplying housing in urban areas, GTX station zones, and 3rd generation new towns. To expedite housing supply, MOLIT plans to apply special measures to private urban complex projects and introduce integrated reviews for private development housing to shorten the permit period by up to one year.

On the 18th, Minister Won Hee-ryong of MOLIT reported the "MOLIT Work Plan" containing these details to President Yoon Seok-yeol at the presidential office in Yongsan, Seoul. Over the next five years, MOLIT will focus its policy efforts on △ stabilizing people’s livelihoods and overcoming economic crises, △ expanding new growth engines, and △ public innovation to improve the quality of life for citizens and enhance private sector-led economic vitality.

◆ Expansion of Private Participation in Housing Supply and Resolution of Late-Night Taxi Shortage = First, MOLIT decided to introduce a "private proposal urban complex project" model that grants urban architectural special measures, procedural simplifications, and tax benefits?previously only given to public urban complex projects?to the private sector as well. This aims to increase the speed and efficiency of private housing supply in urban areas.

In terms of location, the focus will be on concentrated supply in prime areas such as urban centers, GTX station zones, and 3rd generation new towns, emphasizing the provision of high-quality housing that addresses issues like inter-floor noise. The government plans to announce the 2.5 million+ housing supply roadmap including these details in the second week of August.

Minister Won Hee-ryong stated, "We will concretize the new government’s housing policy by consecutively announcing the housing supply roadmap, comprehensive measures against jeonse fraud, and comprehensive youth housing support measures. Additionally, we will definitely establish a foundation to resolve long-standing issues such as burdens from apartment management fees and inter-floor noise."

Furthermore, through integrated reviews, MOLIT plans to handle permits related to housing supply?such as traffic, disaster, environmental impact assessments, and landscape and architectural reviews?that previously took a long time due to separate processes, in a one-stop manner, reducing the permit period by up to one year.

Minister Won explained, "Because evaluations such as environmental, traffic, and education impact assessments have been conducted separately or redundantly by various government ministries or local governments, it has taken several years in some cases. Reducing this time is key. We will expand this application as much as possible to private-led developments as well as public ones."

Measures to reduce housing cost burdens will also be prepared. To alleviate the interest burden on vulnerable borrowers caused by rising interest rates, the Housing and Urban Fund will implement low-interest and fixed-rate refinancing for Didimdol loans. This is expected to reduce the annual interest burden by more than 850,000 KRW for borrowers switching from variable to fixed rates.

Plans to reduce apartment management fees will also be pursued. To reduce the high burden of apartment management fees on citizens, MOLIT will enhance the complex-by-complex comparison system to encourage fee reductions through competition among complexes, and establish guidelines for officetels and multi-family housing, which have been blind spots until now.

Measures to ease commuting problems and transportation costs in the metropolitan area are also included. MOLIT will conduct the first nationwide survey on transportation conditions targeting new towns and development districts, such as Dongtan 2 and Geomdan, by August this year to resolve commuting inconveniences, and promptly prepare transportation measures for problematic districts. In the short term, MOLIT will alleviate standing passengers on metropolitan buses by concentrating charter buses during commuting hours and expanding double-decker bus operations.

To address the worsening late-night taxi shortage, MOLIT plans to introduce a "platform taxi flexible fare system" after gathering expert and industry opinions.

Minister Won said, "Currently, the success rate for late-night taxi calls is 25%, meaning only one out of four people succeeds, which I believe has exceeded what citizens can accept. We will objectively investigate public acceptance and related agencies’ views on various proposals and prepare alternatives at an appropriate level."

Additionally, to reduce transportation costs, MOLIT will significantly expand the number of users of the Alttul Transportation Card, which can reduce transportation costs by up to 30%, from the current 290,000 to 450,000. It will also introduce integrated subway and bus passes and review the introduction of a mobility monthly subscription pilot project with related ministries and experts. By the end of the year, MOLIT plans to increase international flights such as Gimpo-Haneda.

◆ Fostering Overseas Construction... Comprehensive Measures to be Prepared in August = MOLIT will also promote expanding overseas orders using K-Smart Infrastructure. It will foster "K-Smart Infrastructure," which combines new strength areas such as mobility and smart technologies with infrastructure projects like railroads, airports, and urban development, as a national strategic industry to expand overseas construction orders.

Especially in the era of high oil prices, MOLIT plans to prepare a comprehensive government-wide support plan by August to help overseas construction enter a second heyday by leveraging new opportunities in the Middle East, Asia under IPEF, and reconstruction in Ukraine and Iraq.

A "Mobility Innovation Roadmap" will also be prepared to accelerate the commercialization of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) and autonomous vehicles. MOLIT, which has been operating the Mobility Innovation Committee since June, plans to announce the roadmap in August. Through this, Korea aims to commercialize Level 3 autonomous vehicles?the third in the world after Japan and Germany?within this year, and also pursue commercialization of UAM by 2025 and Level 4 autonomous vehicles by 2027.

MOLIT will also tighten innovation and regulatory reforms across its 28 affiliated agencies. Public institution innovation will be vigorously pursued through a joint public-private special team to ensure smooth implementation. Regulatory innovation will transfer authority to abolish or maintain regulations to the public, with a focus on improving regulations related to new industries by the end of the year.

Minister Won said, "MOLIT is the ministry most closely related to citizens’ daily lives, such as real estate and commuting transportation policies, and plays a pivotal role in national economic activities like SOC. We will lead overcoming the economic crisis and stabilizing people’s livelihoods so that MOLIT can take the lead in realizing the national vision of a Korea that leaps forward and a nation where all citizens prosper together."

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