The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport held a "town hall meeting" on the 14th with the housing construction industry. The aim was to reflect voices from the field in policy and normalize the supply of dwellings.
About 130 stakeholders from a wide range of sectors attended the town hall meeting, including redevelopment projects, public urban complex projects, construction rental businesses, apartments, non-apartments (urban lifestyle dwellings, multi-household and multi-family, etc.), and quasi-dwellings (officetels, etc.).
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) also held sector-specific roundtables before the town hall meeting—covering apartments, non-apartments, and rental businesses—to create a venue for substantive discussions on on-site difficulties and needed institutional improvements.
Participants proposed a range of difficulties and improvement tasks felt in the field of dwelling construction and supply. They cited challenges in securing project financing, rising construction costs, and problems procuring materials.
In particular, the industry offered opinions on improving supply conditions, such as supporting the conversion of non-dwellings into dwellings, invigorating the purchase-and-lease program for new builds, and speeding up municipal permitting. They also recommended easing financial regulations related to new dwellings and providing tax support to stimulate the non-apartment market.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) will promptly reflect items that can be improved immediately in policy, and will review tasks requiring consultation with related ministries through follow-up discussions.
Starting with this town hall meeting, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) plans to establish a system for constant communication with the field and continue discussions on difficulties by project and type.
Minister Kim Yun-duk of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) said, "Policy must be made together with participation from the field and the public," adding, "By developing policy together with the public, starting from dwelling construction policy, we will implement a 'dwelling policy befitting a government of popular sovereignty.'"
Kim added, "I will go to the field together to directly identify the difficulties and seek solutions," and "We will hold small roundtables by dwelling type, such as urban lifestyle dwellings, to more carefully examine on-site challenges, and will hold the second town hall meeting in the near future."