Namyangju City in Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Joo Kwangdeok) announced on June 26 that it has established an administrative foundation to support stable housing for residents by amending the district unit plan to allow the change of use of two complexes in Byeollae-dong, comprising 1,678 units, from residential lodging facilities to officetels. These complexes were sold before the regulations were specified.
The residential lodging facilities (hereinafter referred to as "Saengsuk") located within the Byeollae housing development district were sold in 2017 and 2018, respectively. However, following the government's "Measures to Prevent Illegal Conversion of Residential Lodging Facilities" announced in 2021, regulations such as the imposition of enforcement fines for residential use have continued to raise concerns about potential harm to residents.
The government sought to minimize the occurrence of unintentional victims due to the clarification of regulations by encouraging legal use (either by registering as a lodging business or by changing the use to officetel). However, several issues needed to be resolved through institutional relaxation, including officetel construction standards, the prohibition of officetels in the district unit plan, and lodging business registration criteria (at least 30 rooms).
Accordingly, the need for institutional improvement was continuously raised, leading to changes in the institutional environment such as the deferment of enforcement fines and the relaxation of officetel construction standards. In line with these social changes, the city proceeded to review the proposed amendment to the district unit plan for these facilities as suggested by residents.
Namyangju City conducted a comprehensive review of the amendment to the district unit plan for these facilities, starting with an assessment of the capacity of major infrastructure and consulting the Urban Planning Committee and external experts.
In addition, the city carried out various communication procedures, including gathering feedback from the local community and holding resident briefings, to minimize resident conflicts and devise ways to achieve coexistence with the local community.
During this process, the residents, having lived in Byeollae-dong for four years and contributed to the development of the local community, proposed a public contribution plan to help resolve fairness issues and demonstrated their willingness to cooperate for mutual benefit.
After careful consideration, Namyangju City decided to amend the district unit plan for the relevant residential lodging facilities. The city expects this decision to serve as an opportunity to ensure housing stability for actual users, and stated that all public contribution funds donated will be used for the installation of public infrastructure in Byeollae-dong.
Joo Kwangdeok, Mayor of Namyangju City, said, "Although changes in urban administration involve many matters to be reviewed across various fields and are challenging, we could not turn a blind eye to the housing stability of residents. Therefore, we have implemented the proactive review and active administrative support that we promised to the residents."
Mayor Joo added, "We will continue to strive to prevent harm to citizens and to operate city administration in a way that enables coexistence with the local community."
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