Gyeonggi Province's efforts to legislate the improvement of semi-basement housing with high flood risk and enhance the safety of residents have come to fruition.
According to Gyeonggi Province on the 29th, National Assembly member Yeom Tae-young (Democratic Party of Korea, Suwon Mu) proposed a revision bill for the ‘Semi-basement Housing Upgrade 3 Acts’ on the 27th to improve semi-basement housing with high flood risk and support the resettlement of residents.
This bill was prepared following a National Assembly forum jointly hosted by Assemblyman Yeom Tae-young and Gyeonggi Province in July, focusing on upgrading housing and supporting the resettlement of semi-basement residents.
The ‘Semi-basement Housing Upgrade 3 Acts’ comprehensively amend the ▲Building Act ▲Special Act on the Maintenance and Improvement of Vacant Houses and Small-scale Housing (Small-scale Housing Maintenance Act) ▲Urban and Residential Environment Maintenance Act (Urban Maintenance Act).
The bill encourages reconstruction by providing floor area ratio (FAR) incentives that allow the demolition of semi-basement houses in flood-prone areas to count the above-ground floor area at least equal to the living room area of the existing semi-basement house toward the total floor area. Part of the incentive area will be supplied as public rental housing to upgrade the housing of semi-basement residents. These incentives will be provided temporarily until 2035.
First, the amendment to the Building Act allows the floor area of the basement currently used as a living room in semi-basement houses to be included in the above-ground total floor area when the semi-basement house is demolished for calculating the floor area ratio.
Conceptual diagram of the three laws for upgrading the housing of semi-basement residents promoted by Gyeonggi Province. Provided by Gyeonggi Provincial Government
The amendments to the Small-scale Housing Maintenance Act and the Urban Maintenance Act allow a floor area ratio of up to 1.5 times the legal maximum for ‘semi-basement housing concentrated maintenance projects’ (where the proportion of semi-basement houses is 50% or more), and an additional 1.2 times the existing basement floor area for other ‘semi-basement housing maintenance projects.’
Additionally, among the increased floor area ratio due to these special provisions, up to 50% for small-scale housing maintenance projects and up to 75% for urban maintenance projects must be supplied as public rental housing to support tenant resettlement, and priority occupancy rights will be granted to tenants of demolished semi-basement houses.
Gyeonggi Province expects that once the bill is passed, vulnerable residential areas will be transformed into safe new buildings and the expansion of public rental housing will strengthen residential safety.
Lee Gye-sam, Director of the Urban Housing Office of Gyeonggi Province, said, "We welcome the proposal of the ‘Housing Upgrade 3 Acts’ to enable semi-basement residents to live in safer and more comfortable housing environments," adding, "We will do our best until the end, including responding to bill reviews, to ensure that efforts to upgrade the housing of semi-basement residents bear fruit."
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