As the owner consent rate for establishing reconstruction associations has decreased from 75% to 70%, a public petition has emerged in the National Assembly calling for the consent rate to be lowered for redevelopment sites as well, so that projects can proceed swiftly. Due to amendments to related laws at the end of last year, the consent rate for establishing reconstruction associations will drop from 75% to 70% starting in April, and the petition seeks to alleviate regulations regarding redevelopment as well. There are opinions that simply lowering the consent rate for reconstruction while ignoring the more dilapidated and urgently needed redevelopment sites is discriminatory.
There has also been a claim that owners who do not agree to redevelopment sites should not be granted membership in the association. Currently, for reconstruction sites, owners who do not consent are not given membership and cash settlements are made through appraisals. However, in redevelopment sites, even owners who do not consent are granted membership, leading to conflicts and increased project costs due to delays.
According to the maintenance industry and the National Assembly on the 26th, a public petition titled "We request the amendment of the Urban and Residential Environment Improvement Act (Urban Improvement Act) for the equity of the requirements for establishing associations for redevelopment and reconstruction and for membership qualifications" was submitted to the National Assembly's electronic petition homepage on the previous day, the 25th.
A public petition in the National Assembly must receive 100 signatures within 30 days of registering the petition to be made public. Once the petition is publicized, a formal agreement process is initiated, and if a petition receives 50,000 signatures within 30 days of being made public, it must be reviewed by the National Assembly's relevant committees to determine whether it will be discussed in a plenary session.
The petitioner, Mr. Kim, stated, "We must unify the requirements for establishing associations and membership qualifications for redevelopment and reconstruction to eradicate non-economic and malicious emergency committee activities and prevent actions that cause project delays."
The petitioner requested that the owner consent rate requirement for establishing associations at redevelopment sites be lowered from the current 75% to 70%. In an amendment to the Urban and Residential Environment Improvement Act that passed the National Assembly on Dec. 31 last year, the consent rate for establishing associations for reconstruction was lowered from 75% to 70%. This law is scheduled to go into effect in April. However, for redevelopment, the rate will remain at 75%.
The petitioner explained, "In the past, on Dec. 21, 2007, the requirements for owner consent to establish associations for redevelopment and reconstruction were eased from 80% (four-fifths) to 75% (three-fourths)." He further noted, "The purpose of the Urban Improvement Act amendment at that time was to address shortcomings in the operation of the current system, such as expanding the resident representative council, ensuring transparency in maintenance projects, fulfilling the right to know, disclosing materials, easing consent requirements, and protecting the educational environment around maintenance areas, but this amendment only eased the requirements for reconstruction and not for redevelopment," pointing out that this is a revision that violates the principle of fairness by creating a distinction between reconstruction and redevelopment.
The petitioner also claimed that the qualification acquisition for members of the reconstruction and redevelopment associations is unfair. He stated, "In reconstruction, only those who agree to establish the association can qualify as members and be recognized for distribution rights, but in redevelopment, even those who do not agree to the establishment of the association are forcibly included, leading to malicious actions by those opposing redevelopment who create disturbances in the maintenance project through deceptive leaflets for their own interests." He asserted that while only those who consent to reconstruction become members, in redevelopment, membership is granted regardless of consent, creating issues where members opposing redevelopment hinder the project.
Experts point out that it is necessary to align the equity of reconstruction and redevelopment. However, there are also opinions that lowering the consent rate for redevelopment sites, which are often in dilapidated areas, could lead to violations of property rights and require caution.
Byun Seon-bo, a lawyer at the Law Firm Ji-eum, remarked, "There is no need to differentiate the consent rates for establishing associations between redevelopment and reconstruction. Many areas in need of rapid project advancements are more dilapidated and poorer in redevelopment compared to reconstruction regions, primarily composed of apartment complexes; thus, maintaining a higher consent rate for redevelopment could be discriminatory."
Seo Jin-hyung, a professor in the Real Estate Law Department at Kwangwoon University, stated, "Unifying the criteria for reconstruction and redevelopment will help prevent public confusion and assist in activating maintenance projects," while acknowledging that maintaining a high consent rate for redevelopment reflects concerns that property rights could be more severely infringed upon due to the more deteriorated nature of redevelopment.
In areas designated for reconstruction, it is often the case that significant financial losses do not arise even when reconstruction is decided. However, in redevelopment areas, which have a significant number of villas and multi-family homes, if the project progresses with a low owner consent rate, individuals may find themselves unable to bear the financial burdens and may have to sell and leave their homes. Therefore, it suggests that obtaining the consent of the majority of owners for the project is desirable.