Transfer of Association Member Status to Be Recognized Even After Speculative District Designation Following Sales Agreement [Real Estate AtoZ]

Ministry of Land to Revise Enforcement Decree of the Urban Renewal Act

The government has decided to amend the relevant laws to provide relief for those who have suffered damages after being unable to transfer their association member status due to a property being designated as a speculative overheating district while a home sales agreement was already in place.

On November 14, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that it had held the third meeting of the September 7 Measures Implementation Task Force, chaired by Kim Gyucheol, Director General for Housing and Land, and discussed directions for improving the redevelopment project system. In land transaction permit zones, an application for permission must be submitted before the transaction, and it takes some time until the actual contract is signed. During this period, there have been several cases where properties were designated as speculative overheating districts, and as a result, buyers were unable to acquire association member status in reconstruction apartment projects because the contract was signed after the designation.

To address this, the Ministry will revise the Enforcement Decree of the Urban Renewal Act to make an exception: if the transaction permit was lawfully applied for before the designation as a speculative overheating district, and the contract was signed after the designation, the transfer of association member status will be recognized. This policy will also be applied retroactively to cases designated on October 16.

A real estate listing is posted at a property in Mapo District. Photo by Yonhap News

Meanwhile, at the meeting, public enterprises responsible for actual projects-including Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), as well as public corporations from Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon-shared their progress by institution. The participants reviewed the progress of public housing supply projects in the Seoul metropolitan area and checked next year's implementation plans. For newly built purchased rental housing, which has a short-term supply expansion effect, more than half of the two-year target of 70,000 units will begin construction next year. There are 20 legislative tasks that require legal amendments, and with one additional bill submitted this month, a total of 12 bills have now been proposed.

Director Kim stated, "As the expansion of land transaction permit zones has led to an increase in the number of civil complaints, it is necessary to request additional personnel for local governments from relevant ministries and to promptly prepare simplified guidelines for required documents to enable faster administrative processing."