On the afternoon of the 31st, after the 3rd plenary session of the 420th National Assembly (extraordinary session) held at the National Assembly hall in Yeouido, Seoul, members of the ruling and opposition parties are leaving the hall. /Courtesy of News1

An amendment to the Urban and Residential Environment Maintenance Act (Dojung Act), which eases the requirements for establishing reconstruction project associations, passed the National Assembly's plenary session on the last day of the year, the 31st.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport noted that amendments to the Dojung Act, the Private Rental Housing Act, and the Public Housing Special Act have passed the National Assembly.

The Dojung Act includes provisions to simplify procedural steps in maintenance projects. It improves the previous requirement for local governments to estimate contributions from each owner of land when establishing maintenance plans, allowing them to estimate contributions only for representative types. Additionally, while existing associations had to apply for approval of management and disposal plans before local governments requested feasibility validation from public agencies, in the future, after going through a general meeting to apply for management and disposal plan approval, associations will also be able to apply for feasibility validation of management and disposal plans.

The requirements for establishing project associations when promoting reconstruction projects will also be relaxed. Previously, it was required to obtain consent from 75% of the total number of divided owners and land area, but now only 70% consent is needed. Furthermore, for common facilities as specified in presidential decrees, the requirement for consent from more than half of the owners will be relaxed to more than one-third. This amendment to the Dojung Act will take effect three months after its promulgation.

During this plenary session, an amendment to the Private Rental Housing Act, which allows retroactive relief for tenants affected by the cancellation of rental guarantees, also passed. This opens a path for tenants who have suffered losses due to fraudulent activities such as the submission of false documents by rental business operators to receive relief.

This bill states that if a rental business operator is enrolled in a rental guarantee, the guarantee provider cannot cancel or terminate the rental guarantee or must reimburse the guarantee amount if the tenant is not at fault, even in cases of fraud, intentional misconduct, or gross negligence by the operator. Notably, the revised provisions apply retroactively to cancelled rental guarantees due to fraudulent actions such as the submission of false documents by the rental business operator, allowing current affected tenants to be eligible for relief.

The amendment to the Private Rental Housing Act is set to take effect immediately upon its promulgation in January next year. Lee Gi-bong, the director of housing welfare policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, “This amendment will enhance the fundamental function of rental guarantees to prevent innocent tenants without fault from being harmed by landlords' fraudulent actions,” adding, “It is expected that the damages suffered by tenants whose rental guarantees have been canceled will be promptly alleviated.”

Additionally, the Public Housing Special Act, which contains improvements regarding property rights restrictions raised during the promotion of urban public housing complex projects, also passed the National Assembly plenary session. Accordingly, the guideline date for priority supply of public housing will be rationally adjusted from the previously fixed bill decision date (June 29, 2021) to the candidate site selection date and others. If land and other properties are acquired without knowledge of development information until the candidate site announcement, compensation will be provided in kind rather than in cash.

Furthermore, during the promotion of public housing projects, a method of agency development, where part of the project is undertaken by private developers in exchange for supplying land, will be allowed. In addition, to minimize transportation inconveniences for residents of public housing districts, the timing for establishing comprehensive transport improvement measures will be changed from before the district plan establishment to within one year after district designation. The public rental application systems operated by public housing providers such as the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) and the Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation (SH) will be unified.

The amendment to the Public Housing Special Act is expected to be implemented six months after its promulgation, except for certain provisions that will go through the Cabinet meeting procedures. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport stated, “We plan to ensure that lower-level regulations are prepared without any issues in line with the law's implementation timeline.”