"Disappearance of Banjiha" SH Corporation Accumulates Purchase of 2,781 Banjiha Houses

Cumulative Purchase Cost 811 Billion KRW
Target 2,315 Households This Year
"Financial Burden is Heavy, National Funding Needed"

Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation (SH Corporation) announced on the 4th that the cumulative number of semi-basement houses purchased to achieve the "gradual elimination of semi-basements" reached 2,781 units by the end of last month.

Since the semi-basement flooding damage in August 2022, SH Corporation has continuously promoted the ongoing acceptance of semi-basement house purchases. Among the 2,781 units purchased to date, 1,150 are existing semi-basement houses, and 1,568 are semi-basement demolition followed by new construction contract purchases. Most are multi-family houses where the basement and ground floors are not separately registered, with 587 units in the basement and 2,131 units on the ground floor.

Kim Heon-dong, President of SH Corporation, is inspecting a public housing semi-basement site. Photo by SH Corporation

This year’s target for purchasing semi-basement houses is 2,315 units (including 50 units for community use). Since the announcement on April 23, ongoing applications for semi-basement house purchases have been accepted. By the end of last month, 638 units, corresponding to 28% of the target, were purchased: 284 basement units and 354 ground floor units.

SH Corporation stated that it has invested 811.064 billion KRW for the purchase of 2,718 semi-basement houses. The average cost per unit is 298 million KRW. Seoul City and SH Corporation share the excess amount of 116 million KRW per unit beyond the government subsidy rate of 182 million KRW per unit, each bearing half.

Regarding this, SH Corporation said, “The financial burden is increasing by an average of 58 million KRW per unit,” and added, “We have requested the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to abolish the return of purchase rental subsidies to maintain the corporation’s financial soundness.” Unlike construction rental subsidies, purchase rental subsidies must be returned to the government upon future demolition.

Kim Heon-dong, President of SH Corporation, stated, “It is the government’s responsibility to ensure that no one lives in non-residential facilities such as semi-basements,” and emphasized, “Active government support is needed, such as full national funding for the budget required for the most efficient semi-basement elimination policy, the purchase of semi-basement houses.” He added, “If such institutional improvements are accompanied, other local governments and public institutions will actively participate in purchases as well.”