Oh Sehoon: "Public-Led Supply Lacks Realism... Only 2% of Housing Provided by LH in 20 Years"

Strong Criticism of the Limitations of Public-Led Supply Measures
On Expanding Land Transaction Permit Authority to the Minister of Land
"Close Consultation and Cooperation with the City Needed for Designations"

Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon assessed the government's September 7 policy, stating, "Although it was an expansion of public-led housing supply, I felt it lacked a sense of realism."

Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon is delivering a congratulatory speech at the discussion forum "Seoul Looking Forward to Tomorrow - What Has the Rapid Integrated Planning Changed?" held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on the 22nd. Provided by Seoul City

On the 22nd, at the discussion forum "What Has the Rapid Integrated Planning Changed?" held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building, Mayor Oh pointed out the limitations of the public-led supply method.

Mayor Oh said, "Over the past 20 years, 88.1% of the housing supplied in Seoul was provided by the private sector. Of the remaining 12%, if we exclude the 10% supplied by the Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation (SH), only 2% was provided by the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH)."

He emphasized, "It has already become clear through trial and error that the public sector is slow, and that the timing of supply is also significantly delayed. Most importantly, the plan lacks measures to supply housing in the core areas of Seoul, which is what people truly want."

In addition, the Seoul Metropolitan Government is scheduled to announce its own housing supply measures at the end of this month. The plan is expected to include ways to supply housing secured by further easing floor area ratio restrictions in redevelopment projects in areas such as Gangnam.

Mayor Oh explained, "There is no vacant land left in Seoul, and we can only rely on reconstruction and redevelopment. We are continuing to study how to secure that supply within Seoul, especially in Gangnam. We will soon announce how we plan to supply the housing units we have secured as quickly as possible."

Regarding the September 7 policy's provision to expand the authority to designate land transaction permit zones to the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Mayor Oh said, "I believe it is desirable to allow the Ministry to exercise the authority to designate these zones. This means sharing both authority and responsibility, and I sincerely hope that, going forward, there will be close consultation and cooperation with the Seoul Metropolitan Government whenever such designations are made."

Mayor Oh stressed that, since taking office, he has laid the foundation for expanding private sector-led housing supply by introducing rapid integrated planning and other measures. He said, "The Seoul Metropolitan Government is clearly committed to reducing regulations and cooperating with the private sector to increase supply in key areas. Through rapid integrated planning and housing supply acceleration measures, we have already reduced the average redevelopment project period from 18 years and 6 months to 13 years, a reduction of 5 years and 6 months."

He also pointed out that the shortage of supply was caused by the cancellation of redevelopment projects during the previous mayor's administration. Mayor Oh criticized, "The Democratic Party asks why there are still no move-ins despite the rapid integrated planning, but as you know, redevelopment projects take 18 years and 6 months, so we are still in the early stages. The previous mayor canceled all the earlier projects, so it is absurd for them to criticize now."

Mayor Oh added, "Instead of wasting time on political strife, we should cooperate to increase housing supply. The Seoul Metropolitan Government is willing to work with the current administration to discuss and cooperate on housing supply anytime, anywhere, and in any way."