Where Is the Nation's First Equity-Share Installment Housing? GH Pushes Back at MOLIT's "First Sale" Announcement

MOLIT releases materials calling it LH's "first sale"
GH says the next day: "Gwanggyo is the first supply nationwide"

When the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) announced that an apartment complex by Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), scheduled to go on sale next month, would be the “first sale of equity-share installment housing,” Gyeonggi Housing & Urban Development Corporation (GH) asked the media to correct the factual record. By publicizing only the supply schedule of its own agency without separately mentioning the earlier schedule of a local government-owned corporation, the central government ministry sparked confusion over which project would be the nation’s first.

According to relevant government agencies on Nov. 7, GH sent the media an email at around 6 p.m. on Nov. 5 titled “[Fact Check] Clarification on the First Introduction and Supplier of Equity-Share Installment Public Housing.” It asked that reports distinguish between the Goyang Changneung complex announced by MOLIT the previous day as “LH’s first sale” and GH as the entity responsible for the “first supply nationwide.”

An apartment complex in Gwanggyo. Jo Yongjun, reporter.

On Nov. 4, MOLIT had distributed a press release titled “LH Public Housing for Sale with Move-In at 25% of the Sale Price to Go on Sale for the First Time in Goyang Changneung in December This Year.” In the release, MOLIT described Block S-2 in Goyang Changneung, Gyeonggi Province, which is scheduled to go on sale next month, as LH’s first equity-share installment housing project.

It is the first project under LH, which falls under MOLIT’s jurisdiction. However, the emphasis on the phrase “first sale,” without mentioning the earlier supply by a local government-owned corporation, led people to believe that Goyang Changneung would be the first such project nationwide. A policy news article published the same day on Korea Policy Briefing, the government-operated policy news portal, also announced Goyang Changneung’s “first supply” in its headline without specifying LH.

GH’s supply schedule is actually earlier. On Oct. 30, GH issued a notice inviting applications for 240 homes in Block A17 in Gwanggyo, Suwon, and applications will be accepted through the Cheongyak Home website from Nov. 9 to 11. The Goyang Changneung project promoted by MOLIT will not go on sale until next month.

After more than three years of work following the announcement of its pilot project in September 2023, GH saw its achievement of being the “first nationwide supplier” attributed to the LH project. GH responded by issuing a separate notice to clarify the facts. In the notice, GH said, “We are providing accurate information regarding the phrases ‘first sale’ and ‘first supply of equity-share installment public housing’ in the MOLIT press release issued on Nov. 4,” adding, “GH is the entity that first introduced the equity-share installment housing system nationwide and is conducting applications for the first 240 homes in Block A17 in Gwanggyo, Suwon.” It continued, “The Goyang Changneung project by LH mentioned in MOLIT’s announcement is the ‘first sale among projects implemented by LH.’ GH is the entity that proactively introduced the equity-share installment housing system itself and is conducting the nation’s first application process for prospective residents.”

The discrepancy over the phrase “first sale” concerns equity-share installment housing, a public housing model designed to reduce the upfront financial burden on people without homes, including young adults and newlyweds. Under both the GH Gwanggyo and LH models, buyers pay only 25% of the sale price by the time they move in, comprising a 10% down payment and a 15% move-in payment. They then purchase the remaining 75% in installments over 20 years after moving in, based on the initial sale price plus interest. Buyers of the Gwanggyo homes will purchase additional shares in four installments every five years, at 20%, 20%, 20% and 15%, while LH buyers will purchase 15% every four years in five installments. While paying for their homes in installments after moving in, buyers also pay GH or LH rent for the shares those corporations still own.

Some in the real estate sales industry have also criticized the “first sale” publicity, saying it obscured information about the complex that will actually accept applications first. “With next month’s project drawing attention as the first sale, information about the Gwanggyo complex accepting applications next week has effectively been buried,” an industry source said. “For people waiting to apply, what matters more than which agency was first is which complex they can apply for now and how the terms differ.”

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