'Golden Location' Yongsan, Why It Has the Most Vacant Houses in Seoul

Half of Seoul's Vacant Houses Are Demolishable Old Homes
Yongsan-gu Has the Most with 352 Units... Jongno-gu and Nowon-gu Also
Vacant Houses Increase Due to Tax Issues and Urban Renewal Projects

On the 7th, walking along the narrow alleyways of Ok-in 1 District in Ok-in-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, empty houses were noticeable at the rate of one every two houses. Inside the vacant houses with broken windows, old furniture such as chairs and dining tables covered in thick dust filled the space. Ok-in 1 District is located just 1 km away from Gwanghwamun, a central business district.

Seoul City removed Ok-in 1 District from the redevelopment zone in 2016 and designated it as a 'historical and cultural urban regeneration area' in 2018. However, there are still many old vacant houses lined up in this area.

On the 7th, empty houses are lined up along the alleys of Ok-in 1 District, Ok-in-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.
Photo by Lee Ji-eun

It has been revealed that one out of every two vacant houses in Seoul is an old vacant house classified as either dilapidated or subject to demolition. Long-term neglected vacant houses are exposed to fire risks or can be misused as crime scenes, prompting calls for countermeasures.

According to 'Small-scale & Vacant House Information Notification e,' operated by the Korea Real Estate Board on the 8th, as of 2022, the total number of vacant houses in Seoul was counted at 2,972.

Among these, 53% (1,604 houses) belonged to the category of 'hazardous vacant houses (grades 3-4),' which local government heads can order to be demolished. According to the Small-scale Housing Maintenance Act, vacant houses classified as grade 3 or 4, which are considered poor condition, fall under hazardous vacant houses, allowing local government heads to issue demolition or safety orders. In Seoul, there were 843 houses classified as grade 3 and 761 houses as grade 4.

By district, Yongsan-gu had the highest proportion of vacant houses. There were a total of 352 vacant houses in Yongsan-gu, accounting for 11.8% of the total. This means that one out of every ten vacant houses in Seoul is located in Yongsan-gu. Jongno-gu (322 houses) and Nowon-gu (254 houses) followed.

Districts with a high proportion of vacant houses tend to have a larger number of ongoing urban maintenance projects compared to other districts. As residents relocate due to reconstruction or redevelopment projects, the number of vacant houses recorded in statistics increases relatively.

A Nowon-gu official explained, "(Nowon-gu) has many old buildings, so there are relatively many maintenance zones compared to other districts," adding, "Sometimes temporary maintenance zones are designated, but delays in negotiations cause postponements. In reality, there are not many houses at the level of demolition targets."

Experts point to taxes as the main cause of increasing vacant houses in urban areas. When a vacant house is demolished, the land is classified as bare land after a certain period, and land tax, which has a higher rate than housing tax, is imposed.

The current housing tax rate is only 0.05% to 0.4%, whereas the land tax rate is around 0.2% to 0.5%. Professor Yuseon Jong from Konkuk University's Department of Real Estate explained, "There is a difference in tax rates imposed on houses and bare land," adding, "The higher land tax rate leads homeowners to maintain their houses as vacant rather than demolishing them."

Delays in maintenance projects are also identified as one of the causes of increasing vacant houses in urban areas. Park Won-gap, Senior Real Estate Specialist at KB Kookmin Bank, said, "Recently, disputes among association members and worsening project profitability due to rising construction costs have delayed maintenance projects," explaining that redevelopment and reconstruction delays may have influenced the increase in vacant houses.