Public Urban Housing Projects to Bypass Feasibility Study, 34,000 Units Expected to Be Delivered a Year Earlier

Finance and Land Ministries Approve National Policy Designation for Public Housing Projects in the Seoul Metropolitan Area

In order to accelerate the supply of housing within urban areas, the government has established a legal basis to streamline related administrative procedures.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on April 28 that, at the Cabinet meeting held that day, certain public housing projects in the Seoul metropolitan area were designated as national policy projects. This decision is a follow-up measure to last year’s Housing Supply Expansion Plan (the September 7 initiative) and this year’s Early and Accelerated Housing Supply Plan (the January 29 initiative). The contents initially outlined in the January plan have now been finalized.

With this decision, a total of 26 projects, amounting to approximately 34,000 housing units, have been given the foundation to bypass preliminary feasibility studies by public agencies. According to the National Finance Act, if a policy is deemed necessary to respond to urgent circumstances, the Cabinet may deliberate and approve exemption from preliminary feasibility studies. The government plans to further shorten the process through the Fiscal Project Evaluation Committee or advisory meetings, aiming to reduce the typical project timeline by about one year.

A view of the military site in Gonghang-dong, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, where public housing is planned to be supplied using state-owned property. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Of the 60,000 housing units to be supplied through redevelopment of idle urban sites and old government office complexes, as designated in the January 29 initiative, approximately 22,000 units are expected to be subject to this measure. Including small-scale projects not requiring preliminary feasibility studies, around 2,900 units are scheduled to begin construction next year. The military site in Gangseo near the Magok Industrial Complex (918 units), which was selected as a delegated development site earlier this month, is also expected to begin construction next year. The site south of Seoul Medical Center, adjacent to Samseong Station (518 units), is also targeted to start construction next year.

Out of the 23,000 units of public rental housing reconstruction announced in the September 7 initiative, about 11,600 units will benefit from this measure. This includes the Junggye 1 District as well as Suseo and Gayang 7 Districts. Kim Youngguk, head of the Housing Supply Promotion Headquarters at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated, “We will systematically manage the entire process in cooperation with relevant agencies to ensure that housing supply within urban areas proceeds swiftly.”

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