"Operation of Support Centers by Local Governments for Legal Use of Residential Lodging Facilities"

Operation of Center and Dedicated Personnel from the 12th
Provision of Guidance on Accommodation Business Registration and Use Change

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that support centers and dedicated personnel have been established in each local government to systematically assist the legal use of residential lodging facilities (hereinafter 'Saengsuk'), and they will be operational starting from the 12th.

This measure is one of the follow-up actions to the 'Saengsuk Legal Use Support Plan' announced on October 16. The Ministry announced plans for institutional improvements including the operation of support centers and dedicated personnel by local governments, restrictions on individual sales of Saengsuk units, support for lodging business registration and change of use, and also distributed detailed local government guidelines for implementation.

The Saengsuk support centers and dedicated personnel, which will operate from the 12th, will determine the management direction of Saengsuk in each local government considering lodging facility and housing supply and demand conditions, regional development directions, and provide guidance to owners. For example, in areas where housing supply is insufficient or lodging facilities are oversupplied, active encouragement of change of use will be promoted.

They will also provide information on the status of ordinance revisions and district unit plan changes to support legal use, such as lodging business registration standards and parking standard relaxations. Pre-consultations on the possibility of change of use and expected costs will also be offered. Additionally, they will handle preliminary lodging business registration applications and change of use application approvals to defer the initiation of enforcement fines procedures for owners showing intent for legal use such as lodging business registration and change of use.

The revision of the 'Officetel Construction Standards' to support change of use is currently under administrative notice and is expected to be implemented within this year. Restrictions on new individual sales of Saengsuk units and a plan to propose amendments to the Building Act to provide alternatives related to corridor width are also planned to be submitted within this year, with ongoing discussions in the National Assembly.

Moon Seok-jun, Director of the Building Policy Division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated, “Through consultations by the Saengsuk support centers and dedicated personnel in each local government, we hope to alleviate the concerns and anxieties of Saengsuk owners,” and added, “We will strive to promptly advance other follow-up tasks so that the Saengsuk market can normalize as soon as possible.”