Haenam-gun Completes Survey of Vacant Houses, Totaling 716 Units

Accelerating Environmental Improvements with the Establishment of a 5-Year Vacant House Maintenance Plan

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Seo Young-seo] Haenam-gun, Jeollanam-do has completed a survey on vacant houses that harm rural landscapes and cause social problems such as safety accidents and crimes.

According to the county on the 12th, this survey was entrusted to the Korea Real Estate Board, an agency specializing in vacant house surveys, and targeted 1,913 houses presumed to be vacant. A preliminary investigation using electricity and water supply data was conducted, along with a classification survey based on the location, preservation, and management status of the vacant houses.

Haenam-gun Office Building Exterior
[Photo by Haenam-gun]

According to the vacant house survey results, Haenam-gun has a total of 716 vacant houses. Among them, 685 are general vacant houses in relatively good condition, and 31 are specific vacant houses requiring restricted access or demolition.

By region, the areas with the most vacant houses are Hwawon-myeon with 107 houses, Sanim-myeon with 71 houses, Hwangsan-myeon with 59 houses, and Hwasan-myeon with 54 houses, in that order.

Based on the survey results, Haenam-gun plans to establish an annual maintenance and management plan for the next five years, including demolition of vacant houses through resident and community-led voluntary maintenance, as well as purchase and lease utilization of vacant houses.

Additionally, the county plans to utilize the survey results for various policy projects involving vacant houses, such as ongoing vacant house demolition projects, remodeling vacant houses for youth and returnees to farming and fishing villages, and repairing vacant houses to revive small schools.

In particular, the intentions of owners regarding sale or lease will be continuously monitored and provided to residents and urban citizens wishing to return to farming and fishing villages through the vacant house information system and the county website.

A county official stated, “The increase in vacant houses in rural fishing villages is a direct sign of regional extinction, so active interest from vacant house owners and managers in maintenance is necessary. We will prepare maintenance plans suited to our regional characteristics and strive to create a livable rural fishing village environment.”

Meanwhile, following last year, about 80 vacant houses are scheduled to be maintained this year as well, and applications for project participants are currently being accepted through the town and township offices.