On the 10th, Democratic Party of Korea Seoul mayoral candidate Chong Won-o met with heads of remodeling associations from more than 30 apartment complexes in Seoul and held a policy proposal roundtable.
That afternoon, the candidate attended a policy proposal roundtable on "better housing environment in Seoul" and met with officials from the Seoul Remodeling Housing Association Council (Seori-hyeop). Officials from Seori-hyeop who attended the roundtable told the candidate, "There are deregulation policies for reconstruction and redevelopment housing maintenance projects, but there is nothing like that for remodeling," proposing policies such as exempting remodeling from environmental impact assessments and abolishing preliminary consultations.
An official at the roundtable said, "During Mayor Oh Se-hoon's tenure, a preliminary consultation system was created," adding, "It was set up in the sense of integrated deliberation, but remodeling does not fall under integrated deliberation, so the preliminary consultation effectively added another permitting step."
The official continued, "We have to obtain separate permits, which is delaying projects," and said, "If there is no integrated deliberation, the preliminary consultation has no meaning as originally intended, so we would like it abolished."
Another official said, "For maintenance projects such as reconstruction and redevelopment, there are loan support programs that can be applied for with the city of Seoul or the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), but remodeling is not eligible," and proposed, "It would be good if, like reconstruction and redevelopment, the city of Seoul could support initial project costs or safety inspection costs."
On this, Seo Jeong-tae, head of the Seoul Remodeling Housing Association Council, said, "So far, 122 complexes are pursuing remodeling, and it is very difficult."
In response, the candidate conveyed a stance to provide administrative support for remodeling separately from reconstruction and redevelopment. The candidate said, "We are talking about 110,000 households in terms of the number of units alone, and it is very regrettable that the administration has failed to help to the point that those pushing large-scale dwellings maintenance projects are suffering."
The candidate added, "There are various types of projects such as reconstruction and redevelopment urban development projects and remodeling, and the administration should support residents," noting, "When the administration fixes a direction in advance, residents are inconvenienced."
The candidate pointed out, "We should help reconstruction and redevelopment proceed that way, and let remodeling go in its own direction, but when the administration insists on setting the direction, it easily creates conflict."