The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 20th that it has designated eight locations as land transaction permission zones to prevent speculative demand, while reassessing 23 previously designated locations for the Rapid Integration Planning (RIP) and public redevelopment for a year.
On the 30th of last month, the Seoul Metropolitan Government newly designated eight zones (a total of 392,329.7 square meters) selected as RIP housing redevelopment sites in the third candidates selection committee. It also reassigned 13 existing RIP redevelopment and reconstruction sites and 10 public redevelopment sites as land transaction permission zones for one year until August 30 of next year.
The zones designated last year were set to expire on the 30th of next month. The Seoul Metropolitan Government explained that it took preemptive reassignment measures to block the influx of speculative demand due to development expectations.
Among these, the land transaction permission zones around 419 Sinlim-dong in Gwanak-gu and 345-1 Mia-dong in Gangbuk-gu will be adjusted to reflect the changed project areas. The area around 419 Sinlim-dong in Gwanak-gu will see a reduction of its project area (from 43,247 square meters to 37,771.3 square meters) as urban nature parks and religious facilities are excluded from the maintenance project target. The area around 345-1 Mia-dong in Gangbuk-gu will also see adjustments to its project area (from 44,061 square meters to 45,479.5 square meters) for reasons including smoother traffic handling and the exclusion of religious facilities.
The existing RIP redevelopment target area around 183 Songpa-gu will see some adjustments to the land transaction permission zone (from 79,069.0 square meters to 77,338.4 square meters) to reflect the opinions of local residents.
When designated as a land transaction permission zone, any transfer or setting contract of land equity exceeding 6 square meters in residential areas or 15 square meters in commercial areas must receive permission from the respective district mayor.
Choi Jin-seok, head of the Seoul Housing Bureau, noted, "We took measures because we judged there is a high possibility of speculative demand influx if area designations are lifted in regions with high development expectations," and added, "We plan to thoroughly monitor housing market trends to maintain a transparent market order focused on actual demand."