To Prevent Flooding from Heavy Rain... "Improvement of Banjiha and Activation of Private Sector Participation Needed"

Regarding the government's measures to improve semi-basement housing through public purchase, there have been calls for support policies that encourage voluntary remodeling and reconstruction by the private sector.

Photo by Yonhap News

According to the Construction Trend Briefing recently published by the Korea Research Institute for Construction Industry on the 18th, the total number of semi-basement households nationwide was 327,000 as of 2020, accounting for 1.6% of all households. Of these, 200,000 households are in Seoul, 88,000 in Gyeonggi, and 24,000 in Incheon, with 96% of semi-basement households concentrated in the metropolitan area. Most of these are over 25 years old since completion and are aging.

Semi-basements increased after underground living was legalized in 1976. Since semi-basements are not included in the floor area ratio, using them as residential spaces effectively increased the floor area ratio.

However, issues such as poor sunlight, ventilation, and lighting, along with repeated flooding during heavy rains in low-lying semi-basement areas, have been problematic. In particular, in August last year, Seoul experienced a record rainfall of up to 141.5 mm per hour, causing fatal accidents such as a family living in a semi-basement being unable to escape.

In response, the government is promoting measures such as banning the construction of new semi-basement housing, public purchase followed by remodeling (rental housing), redevelopment promotion, and relocation support for semi-basement residents. Seoul City has set a target to purchase a total of 5,250 households this year, including semi-basements and the above-ground areas needed for relocation. However, as of the end of last month, only 98 households have completed purchase contracts. Due to the nature of the project, purchases must be made by neighborhood (dong) units, which is slowing progress.

The Korea Research Institute for Construction Industry views the government's plan to purchase all over 300,000 semi-basement houses and convert them into community facilities as a challenging task given fiscal conditions. Meanwhile, it pointed out that the aging areas where semi-basements are mainly distributed are experiencing increased inconvenience due to narrow roads, insufficient parking and green spaces, and alleyway slumification.

Therefore, it emphasized the need to promote redevelopment projects in aging low-rise residential areas and to utilize building agreement systems that allow clusters of old houses in locations unfavorable for new construction to undergo reconstruction or remodeling. It stressed that voluntary participation by the private sector should be encouraged.

Park Yong-seok, Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Research Institute for Construction Industry, said, "Redevelopment in densely populated semi-basement housing areas automatically resolves various issues," and added, "When remodeling semi-basement spaces into warehouses, community facilities, parking lots, etc., various incentives such as construction cost support, green remodeling support, and property tax reductions should be considered."

Meanwhile, the government is actively considering measures to allow multi-family and other apartment-type housing to be purchased separately from the existing neighborhood (dong) units, focusing only on semi-basements. Won Hee-ryong, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said during a recent site visit with reporters, "There are many livelihood-type landlords," and explained, "Some owners do not want to sell the entire property, and circumstances vary, so we judged that uniform policies pose difficulties."

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