Land Ministry Pursues New "Housing Supply Integrated Support Center" to Help Private-Sector Construction Starts

Private-Sector Construction Starts at Just 63% of the 10-Year Average
Financial Authorities Join Effort to Ease Permitting Issues and PF Funding Crunch
Integration of Functions with Existing Support Bodies Remains Undecided

The government is pursuing the establishment of a dedicated, director-general-level organization called the Housing Supply Integrated Support Center to assist housing projects whose construction starts have been delayed by permitting or financing problems.

According to relevant authorities on November 6, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is consulting with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the center's organizational structure, with the goal of launching it at the end of this month or early next month. The ministry is considering appointing a director-general-level official to head the center and placing two to three divisions under it. Discussions are underway on whether to establish the new organization under the Housing and Land Office or make it an independent support team.

An apartment construction site in Buk-gu, Daegu, where work was halted for 10 months last July due to unpaid wages. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is creating another dedicated organization after launching the vice minister-level Housing Supply Promotion Headquarters at the end of last year because the supply of private-sector apartments has contracted sharply. Private-sector projects accounted for 90.0% of housing construction starts in Seoul and 80.6% in the broader capital region over the past three years (2023-2025).

However, private-sector construction starts in the capital region totaled 121,000 homes last year, just 63% of the 10-year average of 191,000. Since the 2022 real estate project financing (PF) crisis, construction companies have continued to face funding difficulties as loans for initial project costs, known as bridge loans, and main PF loans have become harder to obtain.

The Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service will also join the new center. It plans to consolidate previously scattered on-site support channels into one, coordinate permitting issues delayed by local governments' ambiguous interpretations of regulations or inefficient practices, and help ease the PF funding crunch.

However, the center's role overlaps with those of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's existing Rapid Permitting Support Center and the pan-government Housing Supply On-Site Grievance Resolution Support Center, which began operating in May, as both already address on-site permitting and financing issues.

A ministry official said, "We are discussing the details of whether to combine the functions of the existing organizations or keep them separate," adding, "We will resolve permitting and financing difficulties on the ground to speed up private-sector housing supply."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.