The government is pushing a plan to give buyers some breathing room when purchasing dwellings with tenants in land transaction permission zones.
Minister Kim Yun-duk of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport met with reporters on Feb. 5 in Pangyo, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, after the "meeting with small and startup companies in land, infrastructure and transport," and said the ministry is reviewing a plan to defer the owner-occupancy requirement when selling dwellings that are occupied by tenants.
Minister Kim added that when there is a tenant, situations arise where the landlord cannot immediately move in and live there, and said the ministry is reviewing detailed measures with the Ministry of Economy and Finance to prevent such situations.
Under the Oct. 15 measures released last year, all of Seoul and 12 areas in Gyeonggi were designated as land transaction permission zones, requiring buyers who sign a sales contract to move in within four months and live there for two years. While critics said this froze the market, delaying the owner-occupancy deadline until the tenant moves out would make it hard to prevent gap investing.
Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Koo Yun-cheol for economic affairs also noted, regarding the end of the temporary easing of the heavy capital gains tax on multiple-home owners, that it is impossible to move in immediately for dwellings with tenants, and said they would exceptionally allow occupancy after the current tenant's lease term and require moving in thereafter.