The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport held a policy meeting on maintenance projects in Seoul on the afternoon of the 23rd to strengthen policy coordination between the government and the maintenance industry. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, construction companies, trust companies, professional maintenance project management firms, and related associations attended the meeting.
The government shared with the maintenance industry the new administration's policy direction to revitalize maintenance projects, the main points of the related Urban Maintenance Act amendment, and the timetable for future legislative procedures.
In the Sept. 7 supply plan, measures were presented to drastically shorten project timelines and supplement business feasibility to promote the supply of 400,000 dwellings in Seoul and 680,000 dwellings in the greater Seoul area being pursued through maintenance projects. It included rationalizing regulations so that complex administrative procedures and consent collection can be handled at once and in advance as much as possible, and to ease the burden on associations to secure national and public land that must be obtained.
The government will pursue a comprehensive support plan spanning laws, budgets, and finance, including initial project cost loan for promotion committees and associations, expanding Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG) main project cost guarantees for bridge loans, and supporting public maintenance project fees.
The maintenance industry conveyed the difficulties it is feeling on the ground and suggestions for improvement. Construction companies requested an expansion of opportunities to participate in projects so major builders can actively join public redevelopment and public reconstruction projects. Trust companies suggested the swift implementation of the special land subdivision system for reconstruction projects.
Maintenance firms conveyed that, regarding the association's information disclosure system, the purpose of the system should be maintained while preparing measures that can minimize the administrative burden on associations.
Starting with this meeting, the government plans to hold a series of meetings on the 31st with association officials, academia, the legal community, and the appraisal industry.
Kim Heon-jeong, director-general for housing policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), said, "The government's resolve to expand the supply of dwellings in urban areas through maintenance projects and improve the residential environment is firm," and added, "We will keep communicating so that the direction for revitalizing maintenance projects can reach frontline sites, and we will do our best to ensure substantive deliberation of the bill by fully conveying the voices and expectations from the field during the National Assembly's review of the forthcoming Urban Maintenance Act amendment."