The government is actively pushing a plan to supply dwellings on reserved sites to rein in home prices in the Seoul metropolitan area. It plans to convert reserved sites within the Phase 2 new town "Pyeongtaek Godeok" district for use as residential land. Reserved sites are parcels left without a designated land use at the public housing district-planning stage to respond to shifts in demand.
According to Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) on the 11th, LH will collect residents' opinions through the 13th on changes to the development plan that include reserved sites within the Pyeongtaek Godeok internationalization planning district. Under the revised development plan presented by LH, reserved sites 2 and 3, totaling 49,380 square meters within the Godeok internationalization planning district, are the targets for use. LH also holds additional reserved sites, but those are undergoing a feasibility study related to rail facilities, and the future use will be reviewed based on the results.
This development plan change focuses on expanding "residential space." For the previously planned international exchange complex, the plan is to reflect part of the unsold land as multifamily dwellings to spur early activation. To that end, it will support Pyeongtaek City's attraction of an international school and its early opening. LH will also reflect part of the unsold land within the Edu-Town, which had been planned alongside the international exchange complex, as multifamily dwellings to activate the area early. Some school sites will also be adjusted.
LH will add mixed-use residential-commercial parcels to the "central green axis," which runs through AlphA Ammunition Depot Park, Hambaksan Park and the new city hall building. LH plans to develop the central green axis as a complex space blending residential, commercial and leisure functions, creating a landmark area.
The use of these reserved sites is expected to enable the additional supply of hundreds of dwellings. In the Pyeongtaek Godeok district, a total of 5,134 households are scheduled to be supplied this year starting in April, and if additional residential land is secured through the reserved sites, the supply scale could increase. An LH official said, "We can set a detailed development plan only after hearing residents' opinions, so the supply scale has not been determined yet."
This move to use reserved sites within public housing districts as land for dwellings follows the government's plan, announced in Nov., to expand public presale housing. The government proposed using reserved sites because converting them to residential land allows for fast supply, as the land is already secured by LH and there is no need to go through procedures such as land compensation. A Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) official said, "Public housing supplied through land-use conversion moves quickly," adding, "Where districts are fully developed, surrounding infrastructure is already in place."
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced it will supply 29,000 public presale dwellings in the Seoul metropolitan area this year. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) at the time signaled dwellings supply using reserved sites. In addition to the Pyeongtaek Godeok district, plans were set to convert reserved sites and the like into residential land to supply dwellings in Phase 2 and Phase 3 new towns or small and medium housing sites, including Namyangju Wangsuk (455 households), Paju Unjeong 3 (3,200 households) and Suwon Dangsu (490 households).