Gov`t to Supply 5 Mln Houses Over Next Decade

The Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs Ministry plans to provide 300,000 houses in the Seoul metropolitan area and 200,000 houses in other regions each year over the next decade, or a combined five million houses over the 10 years.

Among houses to be built in the Seoul metropolitan area, 1.8 million are expected to be put on the market and the remaining 1.2 million will be newly built. Also, the government will build 800,000 houses in 15 new towns to be designated and provided with easy transportation access.

Of the additional supply of 1.2 million houses, 400,000 will be built on the outskirts of cities including green belt regions nearby Seoul, mountains, hills, and areas scheduled to be developed as building sites. Given that the 400,000 houses will require 100 square kilometers of land, the government needs to lift development bans on a considerable amount of green belt areas.

According to the city development plan, 26 square kilometers of green belt areas will be freed from development bans.

The ministry said 1.5 million houses including rental and public tract houses will be built for those without homes and be called “sweet homes for low-income earners.”

Home buyers can make reservations for 80 percent of 700,000 houses. The reservation system is designed to pool public tract houses whose construction are approved within a certain time frame and allow those without houses and newlyweds who have accounts with which they can buy apartments to select houses among public tract apartments. The system is considered a good chance for those without houses to subscribe for houses earlier than others by more than one year and compare several kinds of apartments.

Of 300,000 rental houses with tenancy of 10 years, 200,000 units will go to homeless low-income earners with apartment application accounts in the form of "equity apartments." Such home owners can own the houses if they pay 30 percent of the sale price when they sign contracts, 20 percent four years after they move in, another 20 percent eight years thereafter, and remaining 30 percent 10 years after.

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