Nowon District: "Further Ease Park Requirements for Reconstruction"... Seeks Three Regulatory Changes From Land Ministry

Also seeks differentiated acquisition prices for rental housing and relocation measures using public housing.

Nowon District, Seoul (Mayor Seo Junoh) has asked the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to further ease requirements for securing parks and green space to improve the feasibility of reconstruction and redevelopment projects. Although the government partially eased regulations through its August 13 real estate measures, the district believes the changes will be difficult to feel in areas like Nowon, where sale prices are low.

Nowon District Mayor Seo Junho explains on YouTube how improvements to the reconstruction system are impacting the local community. Provided by Nowon-gu.

Nowon District said on November 12 that it had asked the ministry on November 11 to make three institutional improvements: ease the standards for securing parks and green space, apply different acquisition prices for rental housing, and develop relocation measures using public housing. The district formally submitted proposals it had presented when Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Hong Jiseon visited the redevelopment site in Sangye 2 District on October 30.

Under current standards, projects building at least 1,000 housing units can reduce the required park and green space per household from 3 square meters to 2 square meters if at least two-thirds of all units are small homes with exclusive floor areas of 60 square meters or less. The district said few projects actually benefit because the eligible projects and requirements are limited.

It therefore proposed exempting projects with fewer than 2,000 units from the requirement and lowering the small-home threshold for projects with at least 2,000 units to at least half of all units. It also asked the government to remove the deadline for applying for project implementation approval, which is currently set on a temporary basis, and to establish criteria for waiving or easing the requirement when an existing park is located near a project site. The district expects the number of local projects eligible for eased requirements to rise from six to 12 if the proposals are adopted.

The district said acquisition prices for rental housing should vary according to local conditions. Although the August 13 measures raise acquisition prices, it said a uniform increase alone would not address the difficulties faced by areas where project feasibility is low.

In Nowon District, prices for units sold to the general public are lower than in areas such as Gangnam, while the financial burden on members of housing cooperatives is relatively high. The district asked the government to establish a standard that would add a further amount to the acquisition price, reflecting the difference when a project's sale price for the general public is below the local average. It also asked the ministry to revise its public notice so the same standard would apply to urban renewal promotion projects.

The district also noted that if several urban improvement projects get underway at the same time, relocation demand could concentrate in a particular period. Referring to related provisions in the Act on the Maintenance of Aging Planned Cities, it proposed introducing an "operator of relocation support projects" system under the Act on the Maintenance and Improvement of Urban Areas and Dwelling Conditions for Residents. Under the proposal, public institutions such as LH and SH, or rental housing providers, would be designated as operators and tasked with providing long-term, low-interest loans for resettlement, developing and operating relocation complexes, supplying housing for rotational relocation and public rental housing, and operating temporary accommodation facilities.

The district also proposed creating a new "relocation support housing" system by revising the Enforcement Decree and Enforcement Rules of the Special Act on Public Housing, to provide public housing to landowners and tenants who meet income and asset requirements.

As a key task for its ninth popularly elected administration, the district is pursuing "100 Regulatory Reforms for Reconstruction and Redevelopment," an initiative to identify and improve 100 unreasonable regulations during its term. Including the proposals submitted this time, it has made 15 requests for improvements: six to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and nine to the Seoul Metropolitan Government. Four of them have led to actual institutional improvements.

District Mayor Seo Junoh said, "Reconstruction and redevelopment are not simply projects to replace old homes. They are important undertakings that improve residents' living conditions and prepare the region for the future. We will actively identify unreasonable regulations based on feedback from the field and work closely with the central government to improve the system so that we can reduce the burden on residents and expand housing supply."

Hong Jiseon, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (second from left), and District Chief Seo Juno (third from left) inspect the site in Sanggye District 2 on the 30th of last month. Provided by Nowon-gu.

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