Starting this year, Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation (SH) is implementing feasibility reviews for management and disposal plans in redevelopment and reconstruction projects. A pilot program is under way for two sites currently pursuing reconstruction—Yeouido Daekyo and Songpa Hanyang 3rd Apartments—with full-scale implementation beginning in July.
According to a Seoul City business briefing on the 16th, the city has established a plan to expedite such maintenance projects. The move is a preemptive response as the number of districts expected to seek approval for management and disposal plans within two to three years is likely to grow. The city projected that the total number of households in districts where designation has been publicly notified will rise 64%, from 199,000 as of Aug. last year to 327,000 as of June this year.
A management and disposal plan is the "final plan" of a maintenance project, and the feasibility review is a system that examines the appropriateness of calculating project costs and member contributions, as well as the legality of eligibility for sale and application procedures. Under Article 78 of the Act on the Maintenance and Improvement of Urban Areas and Dwelling Conditions for Residents, if project costs increase by 10% or more, member contributions increase by 20% or more, or 20% or more of the members request it, the head of the local government must request a feasibility review. A recent legal revision also allows associations to apply directly for a feasibility review.
Requests for feasibility reviews of management and disposal plans are on the rise. Maintenance project districts in the greater Seoul area are expanding rapidly, and construction costs have surged in recent years, increasing member contributions. The problem is that due to staff shortages at review institutions, the review alone takes an average of six months. Institutions designated by presidential decree are the Korea Real Estate Board (REB) and the Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH), but LH is not performing the task. At REB, there are only 11 specialists at headquarters in Daegu and two at the Seoul branch.
For this reason, the city formed a dedicated department at SH last year and launched a parallel review pilot in Jan. this year. To shorten the review period, SH has improved procedures so that preparatory work for the feasibility review begins at the stage when an association draws up its management and disposal plan. Preparations for preliminary review—such as collecting documents to confirm eligibility for sale—typically take five months. After "public inspection and opinion gathering → resolution by the association's general meeting," when the association files for approval, SH plans to complete the main review within a month.
The first complex to undergo SH's feasibility review is expected to be the Yeouido Daekyo Apartments. The Daekyo Apartments reconstruction association filed for approval of its management and disposal plan with the Yeongdeungpo District Office on the 3rd. A Seoul City reconstruction policy team official said, "SH has completed all preparatory work for the feasibility review of the management and disposal plan and began the main review after the Daekyo Apartments reconstruction association applied for approval," adding, "To help the maintenance project gain speed, SH plans to finish the review within a month."