Only 6.4% Apply for Main Subscription After Preliminary Subscription Win... Due to Construction Delay

Analysis of Pre-Subscription Complex Status by Democratic Party Rep. Kim Byung-wook
25 out of 82 Pre-Subscription Districts (30.5%) Experiencing Project Delays

After winning the preliminary subscription for public apartments, only about 6% of all preliminary subscribers proceed to the actual main subscription due to delays in construction commencement.

Apartment complex in Seoul city.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

According to data submitted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to Kim Byung-wook, a member of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, among the 44,352 public apartment preliminary subscription units conducted from July 2021, when the preliminary subscription system was reinstated, until last June, only 2,819 applicants (6.4%) actually applied for the main subscription. The final number of contract signers was even lower at 2,306 (5.2%).

The preliminary subscription grants priority participation rights in the main subscription to winners in order to expand homeownership opportunities for the homeless and to alleviate subscription waiting demand. However, there is no obligation to pay a deposit or purchase.

The continuous decrease in main subscription and actual sales contracts after preliminary subscription appears to be due to delays in apartment construction. As of last month, among the total 82 project blocks where public apartment preliminary subscriptions, including the 3rd New Towns, were conducted, 25 sites (30.5%) were identified as experiencing project delays.

There were 48 sites proceeding normally and 9 sites that had completed the main subscription.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to supply public housing early to resolve the possibility of project delays, and stated that New Home, the representative public sale housing brand of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, is being selectively promoted in locations with excellent sites and low likelihood of project changes.

Assemblyman Kim said, "Preliminary subscription is a measure to absorb housing purchase demand in advance, but there is a problem of continuous postponement of construction commencement and main subscription after the preliminary subscription," and pointed out, "It is becoming 'hope torture' for homeless low-income families and newlyweds waiting for the main subscription and move-in after the preliminary subscription."