Mayor Oh Se-hoon told a press briefing on Wednesday that his office had prepared six deregulation measures to tackle rising house prices, speed up reconstruction projects and allow the construction of new apartment complexes. .

“The measures focused on limiting supplies over the past 10 years have prevented reconstruction and redevelopment projects from starting on time and have destroyed the balance between supply and demand for housing, ultimately leading to the current crisis. soaring real estate prices, ”Oh said.

“We choose to pursue regulatory relief on redevelopment projects, which are comparatively less sensitive to house prices and effective in improving the living environment.”

In line with its goal, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has said it will abolish a points-based approval system for redevelopment projects, requiring only basic legal steps instead.

Currently, only 14% of old low-rise residential buildings would meet redevelopment requirements, but according to the new measures, the city estimates that percentage will rise to almost 50%.

Oh also said the city would shorten its screening process for potential redevelopment projects from five years to two years, which he said would speed up the application process for areas in need of redevelopment and allow for the construction of complexes. of better quality apartments.

The points-based approval system will be replaced with a stronger consensus requirement for residents, Oh said, to ensure a democratic process before any project begins.

To minimize conflict between residents, the preliminary consensus requirement will drop from the current 10 percent to 30 percent of all residents, and the final requirement will remain the same at two-thirds.

The city of Seoul also added that it would accept and consider requests for additional redevelopment projects. Oh said the move would allow up to 170 more redevelopment projects, mostly in northeast and southwest Seoul.

The city will also begin to accept applications for new redevelopment projects, with a wish to identify at least 25 new redevelopment areas each year.

To improve the quality of new housing, Oh said his office would lift the seven-story limit for regulated areas, which was meant to deter excessive real estate projects. The move will increase the market value of new apartment complexes and help provide more housing to those in need.

“Based on these new measures, Seoul plans to revise and officially launch the new real estate plan by October,” Oh added.

“This measure was prepared on the social consensus that a supply of quality housing is necessary to respond to soaring housing prices. I ask for the cooperation of the Seoul Metropolitan Council to make effective regulatory remedies. “

Seoul’s city government predicts that the initiatives announced Wednesday will help the city provide a total of 130,000 housing units by 2025. The city will later announce measures targeting reconstruction projects, saying these will guarantee construction. of 110,000 additional housing units.

By Ko Jun-tae ([email protected])