[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] The Seoul Metropolitan Government will purchase long-abandoned vacant houses and utilize them to supply rental housing.
Seoul announced on the 8th that it plans to supply 300 units of 'vacant house-utilized social housing' this year, and will recruit four project operators to construct the first batch of 100 units.
Vacant house-utilized social housing refers to rental housing built on vacant house sites purchased by SH Corporation, which are leased at low interest rates to social economy entities related to housing. The housing built in this way is supplied to vulnerable housing groups at 80% or less of the market price, and after 30 to 40 years of the project period, SH Corporation repurchases the housing at the construction cost at the time of completion.
Social economy entities related to housing include non-profit corporations, public interest corporations, social enterprises, cooperatives, etc., as defined in the Seoul Social Housing Ordinance.
The city plans to lower the loan interest rate for project funds from 1.8% to 1.5%, postpone the payment of land rent, which is 1% of the land price at the time of purchase, until six months after the start of construction, and if the average vacancy rate exceeds 10% over two years after the rental business begins, the land rent will not be increased, among other benefits.
Ryu Hoon, Director of the Seoul Urban Regeneration Office, said, "Vacant house-utilized social housing is a new model of urban regeneration where the public and private sectors cooperate to renovate abandoned vacant houses and supply rental housing."
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