The government will listen to industry opinions to quickly push a plan to convert not only vacant stores and lodging facilities in city centers but also the Knowledge Industry Complex into public rental dwellings. It plans to swiftly supply urban dwellings for young people by using non-residential remodeling, which has a shorter construction period than new builds.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) said on the 29th they will hold a roundtable with non-residential remodeling operators on the 30th at LH's Southern Gyeonggi Regional Headquarters. The session will cover explanations of the non-residential remodeling project notice and participation procedures, guidance on related regulatory improvements, and collection of on-site opinions. Earlier, LH issued a call for non-residential remodeling purchase agreement operators on the 21st and began accepting applications on the 27th.
The roundtable was arranged to improve private operators' understanding of the non-residential remodeling project and encourage active participation.
Non-residential remodeling is a project in which existing buildings such as vacant stores and lodging facilities in city centers are converted into living spaces, purchased by LH, and supplied as public rental dwellings. Because it uses existing buildings, the supply period is shorter than for new construction, and it has the advantage of securing dwellings for young people in areas with good access to public transportation and close proximity between work and home.
The government plans to expand the project scope from existing stores and lodging facilities to the Knowledge Industry Complex, which is for factory use. To that end, it is pushing to revise the enforcement decree of the Special Act on Public Housing with a target of September. Even before the decree is revised, the current LH project will include the Knowledge Industry Complex as an eligible target to encourage private participation.
Related regulations will also be eased temporarily. The government plans to revise the enforcement decree of the National Land Planning and Utilization Act to allow the conversion of facilities such as the Knowledge Industry Complex in general industrial zones into officetels through 2027. If converted into quasi-dwellings of less than 30 square meters of exclusive area, it will also push a plan to exempt the obligation to install additional parking through 2027.
For rental dormitories within the Knowledge Industry Complex, it also prepared authoritative interpretations of the Building Act and the Industrial Cluster Support Act to allow workers not affiliated with tenant companies to reside there. It is also reviewing support measures to provide loans or guarantees from the Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG) at around 3% per year to operators remodeling into quasi-dwellings such as officetels.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) plans to gather operators' suggestions at the roundtable and identify additional improvement tasks. Han Sung-su, MOLIT's housing welfare policy director, said, "We will move quickly to convert vacant stores, lodging facilities, and the Knowledge Industry Complex into living spaces," and added, "We will diversify short-term supply methods to reduce the housing burden on young people."