[Public Voices] Vacant House Maintenance: The Starting Point for a Sustainable Regional Future

Over 130,000 Vacant Houses Nationwide:
A National Responsibility Beyond Local Issues
From Neglect to Opportunities for Revitalization

When visiting local communities, there is something that always catches my eye: abandoned houses left empty after people have moved out. The fact that these spaces, once the foundation of daily life, now stand vacant speaks volumes about the present and future of these regions.

How many vacant houses are there in Korea today? For a while, I could not answer this question accurately. This is because the status of vacant houses is managed individually by each city, county, and district, with varying survey cycles and methods, meaning there was no unified nationwide data available.

Responsibility is also divided among the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, with each managing vacant houses as needed. The closest statistical data comes from Statistics Korea, which surveys uninhabited housing. However, this only includes houses without residents at the time of the survey, which differs from the legal definition of vacant houses as those not inhabited or used for over a year.

Vacant houses affect residents' lives in various social and economic aspects, including the local living environment and real estate values. However, until now, responsibility has been dispersed among the national government, local governments, and property owners, making it difficult to even grasp the current situation. Yet, as the population declines and the proportion of elderly people exceeds 20% of the total population, the issue of vacant houses has become a shared challenge that can no longer be assigned to a single party.

To address this problem, in September last year, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, together with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, formed the Vacant House Maintenance Support Team and began a whole-of-government response. The first step was to conduct an administrative survey to assess the nationwide status of vacant houses and to launch the development of the "Vacant House Love" platform to consolidate information.

Additionally, the Vacant House Maintenance Support Team has established a public-private council on vacant houses, bringing together four ministries, 17 metropolitan and provincial governments, the Council of Governors and Mayors, local government associations, regional research institutes, the Local Tax Institute, the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements, the Korea Real Estate Board, and private sector experts to gather a wide range of opinions.

The results of the administrative survey conducted by the support team show that there are 134,000 vacant houses nationwide, of which about one-third, or 46,000, are in need of demolition. Cities, counties, and districts are required to conduct status surveys to assess the condition of vacant houses and to establish maintenance plans for efficient management. However, many local governments have not yet established such plans.

These findings clearly demonstrate that the issue of vacant houses is not just the responsibility of property owners and local governments, but also of provincial and national authorities. The reality is that regions with declining populations see an increase in vacant houses, while the administrative and financial capacity of local governments to manage them is insufficient. From the owners' perspective, demolition alone can cost tens of millions of won, and with population outflows, it is difficult to find buyers, making voluntary maintenance a challenge.

Therefore, to solve the problem of vacant houses, the roles and responsibilities of the national government, provinces, cities, counties, districts, and owners must each be clearly defined. Administrative and financial support should be provided to local governments, while practical institutional foundations should be established to encourage voluntary maintenance by owners. Under this policy direction, the government is developing a comprehensive plan for vacant house maintenance, focusing on three pillars: establishing a nationwide management system for vacant houses, streamlining local government procedures and providing budget support, and promoting voluntary maintenance by the private sector.

Vacant houses should no longer be left neglected. If the central and local governments, owners, and the private sector join forces to maintain vacant houses, fill them with new residents, and revitalize communities, these regions can be reborn as sustainable spaces.

Kim Minjae, Vice Minister for Administrative and Security Affairs