Only 'Basic Housing,' long-term public rental housing for middle-class and low-income non-homeowners, allowed for land development
Core sites like the Korea National Diplomatic Academy and Seoul Regional Public Procurement Service must build 'Long-term Public Rental Housing with Unsold Conditions'
[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, stated that new housing built on key state-owned lands such as the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, Seoul Regional Public Procurement Service, and Gwacheon government office site should be long-term public rental housing with conditions on unsold units, targeting not only youth and vulnerable groups but also middle-class households without homes, and should not be sold or converted into sale-conditional rental housing.
He also declared that Gyeonggi Province will no longer supply any sales housing through green space destruction or land development, except for the 'Basic Housing'?long-term public rental housing for unsold units aimed at middle-class households without homes and low-income residents.
On the 9th, through Facebook, Governor Lee said, "If state-owned lands in key locations such as the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, Seoul Regional Public Procurement Service, and Gwacheon government office site are sold or built as sale-conditional rental housing, it will trigger a speculative frenzy with lottery-like sales at half the market price. Moreover, if limited to youth and newlyweds, it will be like setting a feast with the people's assets for privileged children who can afford cash," warning, "Ultimately, it will supply another strong speculative asset to the housing speculation market."
He further defined, "Speculators are those who find very small loopholes in (government real estate speculation crackdown) measures to undermine policy goals and achieve speculative purposes," emphasizing, "The precious national asset of land must never be used to fatten speculators."
He also advised, "Strengthening real estate taxes to recover unearned income will suppress speculative demand, and at the same time, if high-quality long-term public rental housing is supplied so that homeless people can live comfortably with reasonable rent without worrying about housing prices for life, it will be very effective in curbing panic demand."
Governor Lee additionally stated, "Going forward, Gyeonggi Province will, in principle, no longer allow green space destruction or land development for general sales other than the supply of Basic Housing (long-term public rental housing for unsold units aimed at middle-class households without homes and low-income residents)."
He said, "Gyeonggi Province has so far aligned with the government regarding green space destruction or land development for housing sales," but expressed concern that "although green space destruction and new land development have several advantages, they accelerate the decline of the original downtown, worsen the residential environment, and due to the 'sale price ceiling system without public recovery of development profits,' public land has become a speculative ground through lottery-like sales."
Therefore, he stated, "In principle, public land should supply public-interest 'Basic Housing,' and consideration should be given to the original downtown areas that are marginalized and declining due to land development," promising, "In the future, Gyeonggi Province will, in principle, prohibit land development for general sales purposes other than the supply of Basic Housing for public interest and will strive to improve the residential environment of the original downtown, including urban redevelopment."
Regarding his recent interview remark that the '8.4 real estate policy is 1% insufficient,' which has led to various interpretations, Governor Lee explained, "This remark meant that bureaucrats assisting the president should propose policies aligned with the president's stance of 'not allowing people to make money from real estate,' and to prevent making money from real estate, unearned income should be thoroughly recovered through taxes, etc. While bureaucrats are generally doing well, it was to say that it is 1% insufficient, and that even a very small 1% loophole can create huge speculative pressure," clarifying, "Some parts of the statement were edited, causing the meaning and intent to be distorted."
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