Apartments With Less Than 50 Households Don’t Need to Construct Rental Homes

The “reconstruction profit redemption system,” which requires rental homes to be built when reconstructing apartments, will be introduced on May 17.

However, if the existing number of current apartment households is less than 50, or the increase of the floor area ratio (the ratio of ground area to the total floor area) of its reconstruction plan is below 30 percent, then one does not need to construct rental homes.

Accordingly, reconstruction businesses of middle-height apartments with reconstruction plan located in Gangnam, Yongsan, and Youngdeungpo that do not need to construct rental apartments will be reinvigorated. On March 17, the Ministry of Construction and Transportation (MCT) announced an “urban and residential environment improvement enforcement reformation bill’ and added that it will be introduced on May 17, two months later. According to the reformation bill, apartments that have not received authorization will need to construct rental apartments of 25 percent of the floor area ratio, and those that have obtained authorization but have not requested subdivision approval will need to construct rental apartments of 10 percent.

Over 87,800 households (as of the end of 2003) in apartments, including those in Hyundai 6th and 7th apartment, Hanyang 3rd and 5th apartment in Apgujeong-dong, Mokhwa and Jangmi apartments in Yeouido, which will have less than a 30 percent increase in floor area ratio, or those apartment complexes with less than 50 households, are expected to be excluded from this enforcement bill.

Additionally, the MCT has lightened the authorization standard to reinvigorate the repressed reconstruction businesses of town houses and detached houses in densely populated areas rather than areas of apartments.

If two thirds of the residents in areas densely populated with small-scaled multi-family houses such as town houses satisfy the reconstruction approval conditions, the area will be designated as an “improvement district” and permitted to reconstruct.

Also, in areas densely populated with detached houses, the number of households needed for authorization for reconstruction was lowered from 300 to 200.

Jae-Seong Hwang Sang-Rok Lee jsonhng@donga.com myzodan@donga.com