President Lee Jae-myung said on the 20th regarding extensions of loans for multi-homeowners that "it is fair only if they are the same as the lending rules applied to new purchases of multiple homes." After signaling last month the "end of the temporary suspension of heavy capital gains tax on multi-homeowners" and repeatedly pointing out issues with tax benefits for multi-homeowners over the holiday, this was another message underscoring his intention to tighten lending rules.
That morning, Lee shared on X (formerly Twitter) a report that financial authorities are reviewing applying the interest coverage ratio for rental income (RTI) when extending maturities on loans to rental business operators, and wrote, "Why review only the RTI rule?" RTI is an indicator that divides a rental business operator's annual rental income by annual interest costs.
He added that "loan extensions or refinancing after the loan term expires are essentially no different from new loans," saying extensions and refinancing of existing multiple-home loans should be subject to the same rules as new loans. In particular, he proposed a method to ease repayment burdens, "50% within one year, 100% within two years."
Lee said, "If fully unwinding loans at once would be too much of a shock, we could implement the change gradually over at least a set period, such as resolving 50% within one year and 100% within two years." He added, "I have instructed the Cabinet and the presidential secretariat to report on lending rules for new multiple-home purchases, as well as the current status of extensions and refinancing for existing multiple homes and firm regulatory options."
During the Lunar New Year holiday, he also traded barbs with People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok over regulations on multi-homeowners. After Jang posted on social media a photo of a rural house where his elderly mother once lived and said he had become an "unfilial child" because of the rules, Lee said, "No one takes issue with parents' rural homes, private vacation homes, or second houses in areas at risk of extinction. The government has absolutely no intention of telling people to sell such homes," accusing Jang of distorting the facts.
On the 13th, Lee also posted an article titled "How should we handle existing loans for multi-homeowners when they reach maturity?" and said, "We cut capital gains taxes and gave years of chances, so is it fair to give only multi-homeowners who held on without reducing their multiple homes additional benefits of loan extensions even after their loans mature?"