O Shin-hwan's Half-Price Apartment 'Seoul-Style Stepping Stone' Pledge... "Guaranteeing Up to Half of the Capital Gains"

"30,000 Housing Units Possible Through Seoul City's Idle Land and Others"

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Oh Shin-hwan, a former lawmaker running in the People Power Party's Seoul mayoral primary, has proposed a repurchase-condition half-half apartment called the 'Seoul-type Stepping Stone Housing' as a pledge for homeless low-income citizens and youth.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 21st, Oh said, "In an era where the average apartment price is 1 billion KRW, a completely different measure is needed to match the changed circumstances," and announced, "We will supply the repurchase-condition half-half apartment ‘Seoul-type Stepping Stone Housing’ for homeless low-income citizens and youth." He stated, "To help homeless low-income citizens and youth acquire their own homes, we need to place a ‘housing ladder’ between rental housing and private housing," adding, "By selling at half the market price to reduce the price burden, and guaranteeing up to half of the capital gains when reselling to the Seoul city government, we will help low-income citizens and youth accumulate assets." This means lowering the price to half under the repurchase condition while guaranteeing half of the capital gains.

Oh explained, "This measure is separate from the supply of public rental apartments," and introduced it by saying, "Because the citizens' desire to have a home in a suitable location where people want to live cannot be fulfilled by public rental apartments."

As a concrete plan for project realization, he proposed prioritizing the use of idle land owned by the government and Seoul city, and building 30,000 stepping stone houses instead of public rental housing on sites such as Yongsan Camp Kim, Taereung Golf Course, Sangam LH site, and Magok SH site. He also announced plans to raise the floor area ratio to the legal maximum and relax height restrictions.

Regarding his opposition to the one-stop processing of reconstruction and redevelopment, Oh stated, "Reconstruction and redevelopment must go through separate procedures at each stage such as safety inspections, urban planning, and architectural review, so one-stop review is not possible," and promised, "We will help revitalize reconstruction and redevelopment by shortening the review periods for each section and integrating the stages from basic planning to district designation into a fast track for prompt processing."