Songpa-gu Demands Withdrawal of Re-designation of Jamsil-dong Land Transaction Permission Zone

Seoul City Re-designates Jamsil-dong Area as Land Transaction Permission Zone at the 8th Urban Planning Committee Meeting on the 7th

Seo Gang-seok, District Mayor, “Designation of Land Transaction Permission Zones is a drastic measure against private property rights and should be applied only temporarily and exceptionally”

Songpa-gu Advocates for Relaxation Citing ▲Infringement on Private Property Rights ▲Stabilization of Declining Real Estate Prices

Songpa-gu (District Mayor Seo Gang-seok) expressed deep regret over Seoul City’s decision to extend the designation of Jamsil-dong as a land transaction permission zone and urged Seoul City to “immediately withdraw” the decision.

Seo Gang-seok, Mayor of Songpa-gu, stated, “The designation of land transaction permission zones is a drastic measure against private property rights and should be applied only temporarily and exceptionally. However, the fundamental infringement forcing residents to suffer has continued for three years. Now, as real estate prices are stabilizing downward, this is the right time to ease the land transaction permission zone.”

On the 7th, Seoul City held an Urban Planning Committee meeting and re-designated the entire 5.2 million square meters of Jamsil-dong as a land transaction permission zone. This decision extends the effectiveness of the land transaction permission zone designation, which had been in place since June 23, 2020, for an additional year.

The land transaction permission zone is a restrictive measure designated in areas where land speculation is rampant or where there is a risk of rapid land price increases. However, according to the district office, in Jamsil-dong, fundamental infringements on residents’ property rights are occurring without special reasons.

A district official said, “The MICE project plan for Jamsil-dong was announced long ago, and the benefits from development expectations have already been realized, so the practical effect of the permission zone designation has disappeared. There is still a long time until the MICE project completion, but is indefinite designation of the land transaction permission zone the only solution?” expressing concern.

The Jamsil-dong area, the target site for the MICE project

The district also pointed out that the designation is an “unfair disposition” compared to other areas. The Jamsil-dong permission zone designation is an excessive measure that includes even completed reconstruction complexes where there is no speculation risk, and it should be distinguished from the Gangnam case where only reconstruction complexes with speculation overheating concerns were designated as land transaction permission zones.

Furthermore, based on analysis of transaction report processing and monitoring of brokerage offices, the district stated that the current point in time, showing a “stabilization of the downward trend” in real estate, is when easing the land transaction permission zone is necessary.

According to the district, last year’s real estate transaction volume in Jamsil-dong decreased to about 34% compared to 2019 before the permission zone designation (2019: 2,705 cases, 2022: 911 cases), and transaction prices also declined. As of January this year, the apartment price in Jamsil-dong (based on the national average 84㎡) showed a sharp drop of -30.01% compared to the previous year, and the land price change rate also showed a downward trend at -0.049% as of January this year, compared to last year’s 0.392%.

Residents of Jamsil-dong have long expressed suffering due to infringement on property rights and freedom of residence through submission of joint signatures by resident representatives and sending residents’ opinions. Accordingly, the district has actively requested Seoul City to lift the designation continuously from April 2021 to May this year, responding in line with residents’ opinions.

Seo Gang-seok, Mayor of Songpa-gu, said, “The land transaction permission system is a measure that should be applied restrictively only when there is a clear and existing risk in line with its basic purpose of eradicating speculative transactions. Therefore, we demand the city’s immediate withdrawal to prevent an unfair situation where residents of a specific area continue to endure suffering.”

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