The Seoul city government said on the 22nd it has asked the central government to improve the small-scale dwelling maintenance program to speed up redevelopment in low-rise residential areas with many aging multi-family and multi-household dwellings and semi-basement dwellings.
Of Seoul's total 313 square kilometers of residential land, 131 square kilometers, or 41.8%, are low-rise residential areas. The problem is that 115 square kilometers, about 87% of these areas, do not meet the legal requirements for redevelopment. The city's position is that residential environments should be improved through small-scale dwelling maintenance projects.
The city proposed to the government improvements in three areas: preventing project delays (tenant loss-compensation incentives), measures to boost projects (expanding eligible targets and loan support), and securing necessary facilities within neighborhoods (public contributions).
To reduce conflict during maintenance projects while speeding them up, the city asked that when loss compensation is provided to tenants under the Land Compensation Act in promoting street-block dwelling maintenance projects, they be allowed eased floor area ratios (up to 120%). It also asked that small-scale reconstruction projects be included as eligible for Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG) loan support to facilitate smooth financing and enhance profitability.
The city also proposed easing the eligibility criteria for small-scale redevelopment sites, currently limited to "less than 5,000 square meters, transit-station areas and quasi-industrial zones," to "less than 10,000 square meters, transit-station areas, quasi-industrial zones, and arterial road corridors."
It asked for a new legal basis to ease floor area ratios when installing public facilities or providing public contributions under the National Land Planning and Utilization Act.
Lee Jun-hyeong, Seoul's director general for regulatory innovation planning, said, "We will rapidly improve matters the city can address on its own, and for tasks that require government cooperation such as legal amendments, we will continue consultations to ensure they lead to institutional improvements."