Ministry of Land Prepares Relief Measures for Membership Transfers Contracted Before Speculative Overheated District Designation

"Active Review of Regulatory Revisions Planned"

The government is set to introduce measures to address the side effects resulting from the designation of speculative overheated districts.

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

On December 29, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced, "We plan to prepare relief measures for cases in which the transfer of membership status is not recognized due to the designation of a speculative overheated district after entering into a contract for the transfer of a regional housing cooperative membership (pre-sale right transfer)."

Under the current Housing Act, the transfer of membership status for regional housing cooperative members is restricted from the time a district is designated as a speculative overheated district. There are no exceptions for contracts signed prior to the designation.

The entire city of Seoul was designated as a speculative overheated district starting from October 16, 2025, following the October 15 policy measures. As a result, issues have arisen where contracts for the transfer of membership status were signed before the designation, but the transfer could not be completed by the time of designation-such as when the final payment was not made-leading to the non-recognition of the membership transfer.

The Ministry explained, "We plan to actively review revisions to relevant regulations to ensure that no bona fide parties who have entered into legitimate contracts are unfairly affected."

Previously, the Ministry allowed exceptions for the transfer of membership status in areas such as Mok-dong and Yeouido, which were designated as land transaction permit zones, provided that a sales agreement had been made and a land transaction permit application had been submitted before the October 15 policy measures, even if the contract was finalized after the policy was implemented.