'Kkamkkami' Regional Housing Cooperatives Expelled... Seoul City Proposes Related Law Amendments to Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

by Kwon Hyeonji

Published 29 Feb.2024 06:00(KST)

Introduction of Business Site Dissolution by Authority, Legalization of Disclosure of Actual Conditions Survey Results for Jiju Housing, etc.

Seoul City is pushing for amendments to related laws to eliminate regional housing cooperatives (Jijutaek) that cause harm to their members.

On the 29th, the city announced that it has requested the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to establish and amend laws related to Jijutaek, including the introduction of compulsory dissolution of projects and the legalization of public disclosure of investigation results.

First, the city proposed allowing district mayors to dissolve regional housing cooperatives that show no progress after the sunset period defined in housing laws. This is because there have been numerous cases where prolonged inactivity led to continuous expenses, increasing harm to members. Under the current Housing Act, if a cooperative fails to obtain establishment approval or project plan approval within a certain period, the decision to dissolve (terminate the project) is made through a general meeting.

The city also requested the legalization of investigations into Jijutaek operations and the public disclosure of results to ensure transparent cooperative management. Since 2021, the city has conducted investigations into Jijutaek operations and last year identified and sanctioned 82 out of 111 cooperatives that violated operational regulations.

Additionally, the proposal includes strengthening obligations under housing laws by introducing standardized cooperative membership contracts and consent forms for usage rights to protect the rights of members and owners, as well as establishing grounds for punishment in case of violations of general meeting resolution duties.

The city also urged the establishment of procedures for selecting project managers. Instead of selecting them at the recruitment stage before cooperative establishment approval, the proposal suggests selecting capable project managers through a ‘competitive bidding’ process after a general meeting resolution.

Han Byung-yong, Director of Seoul City’s Housing Policy Office, stated, “Regional housing cooperatives that exploit members’ lack of understanding about project promotion methods and cause harm should no longer be maintained. In addition to this proposal to amend housing laws, we will continue to identify and improve matters that the city can independently pursue, and conduct rigorous investigations and inspections regularly.”