The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 7th that, as a result of a survey on the current state of disputes for all ongoing regional housing association projects, 293 civil complaints and other disputes have been identified in 187 out of 618 regional housing associations nationwide (30.2%).
The regional housing association system was introduced for housing demanders to construct their own dwellings; however, issues such as difficulties in securing land, additional contribution problems, member damages, and low success rates have been continuously raised.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, out of a total of 618 associations, 316 (51.1%) are in the recruitment stage without obtaining establishment approval, and 208 (33.6%) have not received establishment approval after more than three years of recruitment reporting.
In particular, as disputes between associations and members, disputes between associations and construction companies, and member damages have been raised during the recent project promotion process, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has investigated the dispute status at all ongoing regional housing association sites through local governments.
By type of dispute, the main causes of disputes occurring in the initial stages of recruitment and establishment approval include poor association management (52 cases) and delays in withdrawal and refunds (50 cases), while after the project plan approval, disputes related to delays in withdrawal and refunds (13 cases) and construction costs (11 cases) were found to occur more frequently.
Among the 187 associations where disputes occurred, 103 are at the member recruitment stage, and 42 are established associations and projects approved after the plan approval, which is said to stem from issues related to opaque information in the early stages of the project and delays in securing land and permits, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
The region with the most dispute associations is Seoul, where disputes have occurred in 63 out of 110 total associations, followed by Gyeonggi (32 out of 118) and Gwangju (23 out of 62), indicating that issues mainly occur in areas with a significant push for regional housing association projects.
Based on the results of this survey, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to carry out a comprehensive inspection of all 618 regional housing association projects through local governments by the end of August, and conduct a special inspection in key dispute areas jointly with relevant agencies to identify specific causes and support mediation and adjustment.
Through the current status investigation and inspections, the Ministry plans to closely examine problems in the system and operation, enhance the transparency of regional housing association projects based on the survey results, and establish improvement measures to prevent disputes and conflicts.