Seoul City to Lend Funds for Reconstruction Safety Inspection Costs

The view of Yeouido Sibeom Apartment in Seoul
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Reconstruction complexes in Seoul can now receive loan support for the safety inspection costs, which is the first hurdle in the project. This is expected to ease the reconstruction efforts of complexes with a high proportion of tenants who had difficulty raising funds for safety inspection costs.

On the 10th, Seoul City announced that the ordinance allowing autonomous districts to support 'reconstruction safety inspection costs' through loans was passed at the 316th extraordinary session of the Seoul Metropolitan Council. The ordinance will take effect starting July.

Earlier this year, the government relaxed the standards for reconstruction safety inspections, allowing many reconstruction complexes to complete safety inspections under the eased criteria. However, some complexes struggled to proceed with safety inspections due to difficulties in securing funds. As of last month, a total of 193 complexes in Seoul are undergoing safety inspections, with 38 of them passing the inspection under transitional provisions.

According to the revised ordinance, if a reconstruction complex wishes to undergo a safety inspection, it can request cost support from the autonomous district by obtaining consent from the majority of landowners. The district can provide a one-time loan to cover the safety inspection costs. The supported funds must be repaid in cash before the project implementation approval.

The city plans to prepare a detailed 'Reconstruction Safety Inspection Cost Support Guideline,' including procedures, methods, and related documents for supporting safety inspection costs, and distribute it to the 25 autonomous districts to ensure the prompt implementation of the system.

Meanwhile, a plan to use the 'long-term repair reserve fund' of apartment complexes to cover reconstruction safety inspection costs is also being pursued. Seoul City proposed a legal amendment to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in August last year and is currently discussing the details.

Han Byung-yong, Director of Housing Policy, said, "Following the relaxation of safety inspection standards, the availability of loans for safety inspection costs is expected to resolve the concerns of reconstruction complexes that repeatedly failed to proceed with projects due to the high threshold of safety inspections. Starting with safety inspections, we will improve residential environments and expand housing supply through prompt reconstruction support."

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