Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party candidate for Seoul mayor, attended a Seoul mayoral candidate invitational Kwanhun debate on the 20th and laid out concrete plans to increase housing supply and ease housing insecurity.
At the Kwanhun debate held at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the day, Oh said, "We will make sure to achieve housing stability," adding, "We will push supply that citizens can feel at an overwhelming pace, with a goal of breaking ground on 310,000 homes by 2031."
He added, "We will upgrade the fast-track integrated planning to the next level and expand support for youth housing and monthly rent deposits to ease the housing cost pain that is driving young people to the edge," and said, "We will also keep the promise of a 'Gangbuk glory era again' by upgrading so that Gangbuk and the southwest can enjoy equal opportunities in housing, transportation, jobs and cultural infrastructure."
At the debate, Oh picked "maintenance and redevelopment projects" as the first priority in housing supply policy. Oh said, "The answer is maintenance and redevelopment," explaining, "Even now, two-thirds of housing supply comes from maintenance and redevelopment projects, and that share will rise further going forward."
At the debate, when asked about the feasibility of his housing maintenance pledge to "supply 310,000 homes by 2031," Oh said, "During Mayor Park Won-soon's term, as many as 389 redevelopment and reconstruction zones were lifted, but after I returned to City Hall, I set 578 zones in motion over my five-year mayoral term," adding, "If the 578 progress smoothly, at a normal pace it will be possible to break ground on 310,000 homes in 2031."
Regarding the recent "triple rally (rising purchase, jeonse and monthly rent prices)" in the real estate market, Oh put the blame on the government.
Oh said, "The June 27 package and the Oct. 15 package emphasized owner occupancy and focused on putting properties on the market, so I predicted from six months ago that jeonse and monthly rents would have no choice but to surge, but they didn't listen," adding, "Now President Lee Jae-myung must drop his stubbornness, and candidate Jeong must be able to speak up about this as well."
Oh also criticized that the government's real estate regulations had produced side effects for maintenance and redevelopment projects.
Oh said, "Because of the government's Oct. 15 package, maintenance and redevelopment projects that had been sailing smoothly have all come to a halt, and that is the problem," explaining, "About 40 sites are at the relocation stage, and to build apartments, relocation has to come first, but because there are lending limits, considerable side effects are occurring on the ground."
He also said deregulation is needed to resolve jeonse shortages and rising monthly rents.
Oh said, "Multi-home owners are, in other words, rental business operators," adding, "When the units held by multi-home owners come onto the market, part of the disappearance of jeonse supply and the rise in monthly rents can also be resolved."