The Seoul Metropolitan Government will introduce the "Seoul-style public-participation dwellings project," with the Seoul Housing and Urban Development Corporation (SH) taking part, to speed up dwelling supply.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on the morning of the 13th inspected the site of Ahyeon District 1 in Mapo-gu, where a redevelopment project is being pushed under a public redevelopment model, and announced the project plan. The goal is for SH to go beyond a simple implementer to act as a conflict mediator and project facilitator, resolving factors that delay the project and providing incentives to boost speed and economic feasibility.
The Seoul-style public-participation dwellings project is categorized as "public redevelopment," "public Moa Town initiative," and "urban public complex project," depending on the characteristics of the site and project conditions. In public redevelopment with SH participation, households unable to secure relocation funds due to lending regulations will receive loan support of up to 300 million won (LTV 40%). Operating expenses for the initial residents' preparatory committee will be raised from the current 8 million won per month to 12 million won, and the management and disposal feasibility review, which used to take an average of six months, will be shortened to one month. The city will first support 13 public redevelopment sites currently being promoted with SH participation and expand support to new sites with low profitability or delayed or stalled due to resident conflict.
The city plans to actively consider converting the Moa Town initiative to a public-participation model going forward. Currently, of 132 locations in total, only 23—17 with SH and six with LH—are supported by the public sector. For Moa Town initiatives with SH participation, the district area can be expanded, up to 70% of construction costs will be financed through dedicated financial products, and additional incentives such as easing the proportion of rental dwellings construction will be applied to improve project viability.
The urban public dwellings complex project is currently being pushed mainly by LH, but SH will also actively take on the project going forward. In particular, SH plans to strengthen communication with residents throughout the entire process.
Ahyeon District 1, which Mayor Oh visited, is cited as an exemplary site where SH intervened to resolve problems. Ahyeon District 1 had many owners holding small equity shares, and 740 out of 2,692 land owners were classified as cash-settlement recipients, making opposition intense.
The city, Mapo-gu, and SH decided to supply for-sale minimum-size dwellings (minimum housing standard 14㎡) to prevent what residents call "nest eviction," reducing the number of cash-settlement recipients to 156. A maintenance plan reflecting this passed deliberation on the 19th of last month.
Mayor Oh said, "With SH participating, the tangled threads began to unravel, and at last a path opened to move the project forward. It seems it will become a truly meaningful pilot case in which the public sector responsibly resolved issues difficult for the private sector to handle."