Seoul City Lifts Land Transaction Permit Zones for Non-Apartment Areas in Jamsil, Samsung, Daechi, and Cheongdam

Seoul City announced on the 15th that it will adjust the designation of areas near the International Exchange Complex District, covering four neighborhoods (Jamsil-dong in Songpa-gu, and Samseong, Cheongdam, and Daechi-dong in Gangnam-gu), requiring land transaction permits only for apartment use.

Map of the land transaction permission zone in the International Exchange Complex District. [Image provided by Seoul City]

According to the amendment and enforcement of the 'Real Estate Transaction Report Act,' which allows the designation of permit targets by specific usage categories, Seoul City explained that this decision was made after comprehensively reviewing the purpose of the legal amendment and concerns about speculation.

The recent amendment, effective since October, includes provisions allowing the authority designating land transaction permit zones to specify the permitted usage and land category.

On the 15th, Seoul City held the 18th Urban Planning Committee meeting and approved the proposed adjustment of the land transaction permit zones. The adjusted zones will be announced on the 16th and will take effect immediately upon announcement.

Before adjusting the land transaction permit zones, Seoul City carefully examined the possibility of designating zones by distinguishing foreigners' involvement, land category, and building usage. Among these, it was found that foreigners rarely acquired land through land transaction permits, indicating no signs of speculation or unusual trends, and specifying by land category was deemed ineffective due to the characteristics of urban areas, so the current designation was maintained.

Seoul City focused on reviewing the possibility of designating specific uses within all permit zones. As a result, the 'International Exchange Complex District and surrounding areas' were comprehensively designated to include the legal neighborhoods adjacent to the project district, falling under the scope of adjustment according to the legal amendment. After comprehensively reviewing indicators and transaction volumes by usage, the designation was limited to apartment use.

Additionally, Seoul City lifted the land transaction permit zone designation for 40 redevelopment candidate sites (2.13㎢) that were not selected in the Rapid Integrated Planning and other redevelopment candidate site contests. However, among a total of 51 sites not selected for Rapid Integrated Planning and Public Redevelopment Projects, 11 sites requested by district mayors to maintain their designation were excluded from the lifting.

Since January 2022, to activate and facilitate housing supply, areas that met the 'legal zone designation requirements' and resident consent rates and were recommended by district offices but not selected have also been designated as land transaction permit zones as part of anti-speculation measures. However, considering these areas as uncertain candidates for future selection and to alleviate residents' inconvenience caused by long-term permit zone designation, Seoul City decided to lift the land transaction permit zone designation reflecting district opinions.

Yoo Chang-soo, Seoul City’s Deputy Mayor for Administration 2, stated, “This adjustment of the land transaction permit zones is a rational improvement considering the legal amendment and the non-selected areas comprehensively.” He added, “We will continue to monitor the real estate market and observe real estate trends (stability) throughout Seoul, including land transaction permit zones.”

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