Oh Sehoon: "Private Sector-Led, Overwhelming Speed in Housing Supply... Public-Led Approach Is Slow"

Emphasizing Supply Speed at the Jungnang-gu Citizen Maintenance Project Academy
Assessment of the September 7 Measures: "Public-Led Supply Stressed, but Progress Is Slow"
"Announcement on Seoul Housing Supply Coming Soon"

Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon emphasized his commitment to achieving housing supply targets at an overwhelming speed and scale through "private sector-led maintenance projects." He pointed out that the "public-led" supply approach in the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's first real estate supply policy, the September 7 Measures, has the limitation of slow project progress.

Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon is giving a special lecture at the 'Citizen Maintenance Project Academy' held at Jungnang-gu Community Center on the 11th. Photo by Seoul City

At the "Citizen Maintenance Project Academy" held at Jungnang-gu Community Center on the 11th, Mayor Oh introduced the achievements of maintenance projects such as the Rapid Integrated Planning and Moa Town initiatives. He stated, "By focusing on speed, accountability, and quality of life, we will supply housing at an overwhelming pace and scale, quickly achieving our goals of stabilizing the housing market and improving residential stability."

Mayor Oh stressed that the government's September 7 Measures are centered on a public-led approach, which differs philosophically from Seoul City's housing policy. He explained, "Seoul City fundamentally believes in private sector leadership, providing maximum administrative support. The recently announced government policy emphasizes that the public sector will lead everything. While it may seem that direct government involvement would accelerate the process, looking back at past trial and error, we have found that it actually slows things down."

He also evaluated that the government's supply measures are more focused on the "metropolitan area" rather than Seoul itself, making it feel as though Seoul has been given an additional challenge. Mayor Oh said, "Aside from mentioning the development of a few new available sites for apartment supply in Seoul, there was little reference to the city in the new measures. This has actually created new concerns. In particular, the challenge for Seoul City is now how to inform citizens about the secured housing supply, especially in maintenance projects, and instill confidence in the stability of the real estate market."

Additionally, regarding the relationship between Seoul City and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport since the start of the Yoon administration, he said, "In fact, communication has not been as smooth as before since the change in administration," and added, "Please do not pit us against the Ministry of Land. Good relations are essential for progress."

Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon (center) is listening to an explanation about the redevelopment project in the Myeonmok-dong area of Jungnang District at the "Public Redevelopment Project Academy" held at the Jungnang District Community Center on the 11th. Provided by Seoul City

On this day, Mayor Oh presented the policy direction and implementation strategies for maintenance projects, including the 2021 "Normalization of Maintenance Projects" plan, the 2023-2024 "Revitalization of Maintenance Projects," and this year's "Deregulation and Supply Promotion" plan. Since taking office, Mayor Oh has introduced the Rapid Integrated Planning and Moa Housing systems to normalize maintenance projects, establishing a foundation for the supply of approximately 245,000 housing units across 321 sites to date. Of these, 153 sites (about 210,000 units) will be supplied through Rapid Integrated Planning, and 168 sites (35,000 units) through Moa Housing.

The Myeonmok 7 District in Jungnang-gu, where the event was held, is an area densely populated with old houses and has poor pedestrian environments, making redevelopment urgent. After being designated as a maintenance zone through Rapid Integrated Planning in January last year, the residents' association was established just eight months later, in September of the same year.

Mayor Oh stated, "Jungnang-gu has the largest number of redevelopment and reconstruction maintenance zones and Moa Town projects in all of Seoul. We have implemented measures such as Rapid Integrated Planning, which reduced the time required for zone designation from five years to two, as well as budget support for project committees, project stage deadlines, and conflict mediation systems. We will continue to accelerate administrative procedures as part of this 'speed strategy.'"

In addition, Seoul City has prepared measures to further accelerate supply through the activation of the Moa Housing project. The city will apply the "business feasibility adjustment coefficient" to Moa Town projects, just as in redevelopment and reconstruction, increase the volume of general sales units, and provide loans for initial operating expenses of associations to support their swift establishment. By simultaneously establishing management and architectural plans, the average project period, which previously took more than 11 years, will be reduced to within 9 years.

This was Mayor Oh's second time taking the podium at the Citizen Maintenance Project Academy, following his appearance on the 12th. The Maintenance Project Academy is an educational program for citizens interested in maintenance projects, serving as a channel to communicate basic concepts and Seoul City policies. The city plans to hold the event in every district by November. So far, a total of about 1,100 people have participated in the 12 sessions held to date.