Next year, 29,000 public presale housing units will be supplied in public housing sites in the greater Seoul area. The presale volume increased by more than 30% from this year.
Most of the public housing supply volume is concentrated in Gyeonggi and Incheon, where the second- and third-phase new towns such as Gwanggyo, Goyang Changneung, and Namyangju Wangsuk are located. However, Seoul's public housing presale volume is only 1,305 units, drawing criticism that it falls short of housing demand. The government plans to expand Seoul's housing supply volume by using idle sites.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH), Seoul Housing and Urban Development Corporation (SH), Gyeonggi Housing & Urban Development Corporation (GH), and Incheon Housing & City Development Corporation (iH), the four public institutions, said on the 26th they plan to sequentially supply a total of 29,000 public presale housing units in public housing sites in the greater Seoul area in 2026.
This supply volume increased by about 2,000 units from the figure (27,000 units) released in the Sept. 7 housing supply expansion plan. It is up 32.2% from this year's presale volume (22,000 units) and 141.7% from the average presale volume in the greater Seoul area over the past five years (12,000 units).
◇ 27,000 units to be supplied in Gyeonggi and Incheon
Next year's public housing for presale is concentrated in Gyeonggi Province, which has the second- and third-phase new towns. In Gyeonggi, 23,800 public housing units will be put up for presale. In Incheon, 3,600 units are planned. Gyeonggi and Incheon account for about 95% of the total presale volume.
By major district, public housing for presale is slated as follows: ▲ 7,500 units in third-phase new towns ▲ 7,900 units in second-phase new towns ▲ 13,200 units in other small and mid-size sites.
Presale volumes in the third-phase new towns are: ▲ Goyang Changneung 3,881 units ▲ Namyangju Wangsuk 1,868 units ▲ Incheon Gyeyang 1,290 units. In the second-phase new towns, the plans are: ▲ Gwanggyo 600 units ▲ Pyeongtaek Godeok 5,134 units ▲ Hwaseong Dongtan 2 473 units.
In other small and mid-size sites, the supply will include: ▲ Godeok Gangil 1,305 units ▲ Guri Galmae Station area 287 units ▲ Geomam Station area 1,190 units.
However, in Seoul, where the housing supply crunch is worsening, the public housing presale volume is limited to a single site, Godeok Gangil (1,305 units). Only 5% of next year's public housing supply volume will be in Seoul. Public housing in Godeok Gangil will be sold under the "sharing" (profit-sharing) model.
Ham Yeong-jin, head of the Real Estate Research Lab at Woori Bank, said, "It is regrettable that supply in Seoul, the epicenter of home price instability, is limited to about 1,300 units," and noted, "Realistic steps to utilize idle sites such as downtown government office sites in Seoul, the Sungkyunkwan University baseball field, and Wirye office land need to come first as soon as possible."
An official at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) said, "Nothing has been finalized, but we are in talks with the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on converting school sites," and explained, "SH also has land, and there are some volumes that can be converted to housing sites by relocating existing sports facilities, so additional supply could come out in Seoul."
MOLIT plans to put up a total of 5,100 units for presale by the end of this year, including Namyangju Wangsuk (881 units) and Gunpo Daeyami (1,003 units).
◇ Additional 4,100 units in Namyangju Wangsuk and Paju Unjeong
To expand the supply volume in the greater Seoul area, the government will begin in earnest to convert the use of non-residential land owned by LH.
Earlier, MOLIT, through the Sept. 7 measures, pushed to introduce a "public housing site restructuring" system that would regularly review the uses and functions of non-residential land that has not been utilized for a long time or has been excessively planned and, if needed, convert it to housing land. The ruling party has introduced a bill to amend the Special Act on Public Housing that stipulates the selection of target sites for converting non-residential land such as commercial areas and the deliberation procedures.
Before the law is amended, MOLIT estimated that converting uses could enable the supply of 15,000 public housing units. LH has submitted to MOLIT a plan change proposal that includes measures to adjust the use of reserved and other non-residential land to supply 4,100 public housing units, which is 28% of the initial push volume.
Through use conversion, additional public housing supply is possible in: ▲ third-phase new town Namyangju Wangsuk (455 units) ▲ second-phase new town Paju Unjeong 3 (3,200 units) ▲ small and mid-size site Suwon Dangsu (490 units).
An official at MOLIT said, "Public housing will be supplied in sequence by project site after going through procedures such as district plan approval," and added, "In particular, Suwon Dangsu is slated to begin housing construction next year."