The government will purchase an additional 5,000 unsold apartments in provincial areas.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) said on the 10th that, as a follow-up to the "measures to reinforce construction investment centered on provincial areas" announced in August last year, they will conduct the "third purchase notice for unsold apartments after completion in provincial areas." The purchase volume for this notice is 5,000 units.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) and LH will expand the eligibility for purchasing unsold apartments after completion. Previously, only unsold dwellings completed as of the notice date could apply, but starting with the third purchase, apartments scheduled to be completed within three months of the notice date will also be included.
A partial purchase system will also be introduced. Under the previous review, only full acquisition was possible when purchasing an applying complex. However, beginning with the third purchase, the review methods will be diversified—such as purchasing only some households after excluding non-preferred types—to improve the review pass rate.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) and LH will extend the application period from the existing four weeks to six weeks so that businesses can sufficiently consider selling. They plan to hold regional briefings later to provide on-site guidance on the changes and the purchase procedures.
At the same time, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) and LH will continue efforts to improve settlement conditions for provincial workers by utilizing unsold apartments in provincial areas. In Dec. last year in Gwangju Metropolitan City, to support housing for workers at Gwangju Global Motors (GGM), LH and the city of Gwangju signed an agreement, and LH pursued supplying unsold apartments purchased near GGM as public rental housing to GGM workers.
Lee Gi-bong, director-general for housing welfare policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), said, "We expect that purchasing unsold apartments in provincial areas will not only revive the local construction economy, but also, as in the Gwangju GGM case, serve as a primer for revitalizing the provincial economy—such as housing support for provincial workers—through joint efforts by the central and local governments."