Nowon-gu, Nationwide First to Offer Full Interest-Free Loans for Reconstruction Safety Inspection Costs

Sanggye Imkwang Apartment, Nationwide First Case of Full Interest-Free Loan Support for Reconstruction Safety Inspection Costs
Held Meeting with Representatives of 27 Safety Inspection Complexes Promptly Following Work Processing Standards
Reconstruction Promotion Complexes Struggling to Secure Safety Inspection Costs Gain Momentum for Reconstruction

Nowon-gu, Seoul (District Mayor Oh Seung-rok) announced on the 15th that it has started providing full interest-free loans to cover apartment reconstruction safety inspection costs.

The target apartment is Sanggye Imkwang Apartment. This came about just over two months after the partial amendment of the Seoul Metropolitan City Urban and Residential Environment Maintenance Ordinance, which took effect on July 1, allowing the autonomous district to initially support safety inspection costs and recover them before the project implementation plan approval. The full interest-free loan is the first case nationwide.

Following the issuance of the “Seoul City Reconstruction Safety Inspection Cost Support Work Processing Standards” in July, the district quickly moved to expedite reconstruction. It held meetings with representatives from 27 complexes undergoing safety inspections to guide the support project, gather opinions, and communicate. Most importantly, it secured a budget of 450 million KRW for safety inspection cost support through the second half supplementary budget.

Since conflicts arose during the stage of collecting safety inspection costs, which amount to hundreds of millions of KRW, from each household, causing delays in reconstruction promotion, the district decided to provide upfront support to expedite reconstruction.

Sanggye Imkwang Apartment is the first beneficiary, having previously obtained consent from more than 50% of landowners and submitted the application and resident consent forms to the district office. The district completed document screening and notified the resident representatives of the loan decision on the 15th. The district will provide upfront support for approximately 170 million KRW in safety inspection costs as well as guarantee insurance subscription fees.

Going forward, resident representatives must apply for guarantee insurance coverage on the loan collateral amount within 30 days of receiving the decision notification, and the district will proceed with the safety inspection service after signing the agreement.

The district expects that starting with Sanggye Imkwang Apartment, aging apartment complexes that have struggled to secure safety inspection costs will apply for cost support, thereby gaining momentum in reconstruction promotion.

Until now, the district has taken the lead in achieving 100% upfront support for safety inspection costs. When the Seoul City ordinance amendment was at risk of failing, the district conducted a month-long resident signature campaign, delivering a petition signed by about 70,000 residents and actively providing opinions on establishing safety inspection cost support standards.

The initial support standard proposed covering 90% of safety inspection costs, applying the base interest rate, and in principle requiring interest-bearing loans with collateral (or joint liability) bonds. However, the district requested expanding the support limit to 100%, providing unconditional support such as interest-free loans (no joint liability required), and suggested considering alternatives like guarantee insurance subscription if bond security is necessary.

Seoul City also reflected most of the district’s opinions in line with the ordinance amendment’s intent, leaving loan limits, interest rates, and upfront guarantee insurance fees to the discretion of autonomous districts.

Additionally, since 2018, the district has repeatedly proposed easing the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s reconstruction safety inspection standards, which had been the biggest obstacle to reconstruction, achieving results last December by lowering the weight of structural safety and increasing the weight of residential environment factors such as parking spaces and facility aging.

As a result, 11 complexes that could not pass under the previous standards have now passed safety inspections, with 5 currently pursuing reconstruction safety inspections. Furthermore, 27 complexes that have completed on-site surveys are preparing for safety inspections.

Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, said, “I am pleased that the long-standing resident demands for easing reconstruction safety inspection standards and supporting safety inspection costs have been realized,” adding, “We will continue to promote prompt reconstruction to improve residents’ quality of life and provide maximum support as needed.”

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