Gyeonggi Province will introduce a preliminary review system for changing the use of residential lodging facilities starting from the 25th.
The preliminary review system for use change is a system designed to prevent illegal conversions by allowing owners, partial buyers, or project implementers of residential lodging facilities to easily verify whether a change of use is possible.
Unlike general lodging facilities, residential lodging facilities are accommodations equipped with cooking facilities intended for long-term guests. However, recently, due to individual sales, these facilities have been used as residential housing rather than their original lodging purpose, causing social issues such as overcrowding of school students and parking shortages, leading to conflicts within local communities.
To address this, the government mandated lodging business registration for residential lodging facilities in May 2021.
In October 2021, the building standards for officetels were temporarily relaxed for two years, allowing floor heating, to encourage legal use by changing the use from residential lodging facilities to officetels if residential use was desired.
Subsequently, in October 2023, owners of residential lodging facilities were allowed to register lodging businesses, and enforcement fines for illegal use changes of residential lodging facilities have been deferred until the end of 2024.
From next year, if residential lodging facilities are used for residential purposes rather than lodging, enforcement fines amounting to 10% of the standard market value of the building will be imposed. Therefore, owners must either register their lodging business to use the facility legally as lodging or change the use to officetels or other appropriate types.
The problem is that to change the use, consent from 80% of all owners (100% for partial buyers) is required, but due to reasons such as personal information protection, it is difficult for owners to contact each other and meet the consent requirement.
The preliminary review system for changing the use of residential lodging facilities allows for a prior review and guidance on whether a use change is possible even if the consent requirement is not met.
If 10 or more owners or partial buyers in a residential lodging facility with multiple owners or partial buyers in one building agree, they can apply for the 'Preliminary Review System for Use Change of Residential Lodging Facilities.' Project implementers of residential lodging facilities under construction can also apply.
The target areas include residential lodging facilities located in 13 regions: Suwon, Hwaseong, Namyangju, Ansan, Pyeongtaek, Uijeongbu, Osan, Yongin, Bucheon, Siheung, Anyang, Paju, and Icheon.
Detailed information on eligibility, application methods, and processing procedures can be found on the Gyeonggi Architecture Portal (https://ggarchimap.gg.go.kr/).
Lee Eun-seon, Director of the Architecture Design Division of Gyeonggi Province, stated, "The preliminary review system for use change was established to support the prompt decision-making regarding the management or handling direction of residential lodging facilities."
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